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Class 
Book. 



ill 



CopyrightN^. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



Commercial 
Carnation Culture 



A PRACTICAL GUIDE 

TO MODERN METHODS OF GROWING THE 

AMERICAN CARNATION FOR 

MARKET PURPOSES 



ILLUSTRATED 



, ,;\y Edited bv 

y 



J5 HARRISON DICK 

Author of Sweet Peas for Profit, Editor of The Florists' Exchange 
and the Gardeners and Florists' An7iual 



NEW YORK 
A. T. DeLaMare Printing & Publishing Go. Ltd. 

1915 






^^ 



Copyright, 1915 
A. T. DeLaMake Printing & Publishing Co. Ltd. 



AUG 14 1915 

©CU41009C 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



Speaking of it in the broadest terms, the Carnation is 
a very remarkable flower and no society and no person 
has yet fully done justice to its history or to all the attri- 
butes surrounding it. We believe we are fulfilling a need 
in ipublishing Commercial Carnation Culture. Much 
useful and informative matter has been collected, and 
the plan that we began in "Sweet Peas for Profit," of having 
cultural treatises from different sections of this continent, 
has been followed. Acknowledgment and hearty thanks 
are herein tendered to those who have assisted with contri- 
butions as mentioned in the following list: 

George W. Allwood. — " American Carnations in England." 
F. J. Ammann, St. Louis, Mo. — " Carnations in the St. Louis Region." 
J. G. Bacher, Portland, Ore. — ■" Carnations in the Pacific Northwest." 
A. F. J. Baur, Indianapolis, Ind. — " Crossbreeding and Hybridizing Carnations." 
E. T. Cook (the late), Toronto, Can. — " Carnations in Ontario." 
L. J. Cook, Bush Hill Park, ]Mdx., Eng. — -"The American Carnation as a Bed- 
ding Plant." 
Wm. F. Gude, Washington, D. C. — ■" Carnations at Washington, D. C." 
S. J. Goddard, Framingham, Mass. — •" Exhibiting and Judging Carnations." 
Albert M. Herr, Lancaster, Pa. — " Carnations in Pennsylvania." 
Chas. W. Johnston, Morgan Park, 111. — " Carnations in Chicago and Illinois." 
S. J. Mitchell, Houston, Tex. — " Carnations in the South." 
A. A. Pembroke, Beverly, Mass. — " Varieties of the American Carnation." 
Samuel Redstone, Philadelphia, Pa. — "The Best Type of Greenhouse." 
H. R. Richards, Los Angeles, Cal. — " Carnations in Southern California." 
J.A.Valentine, Denver.Colo. — "Carnations in Colorado and the Mountain States." 
Joseph M. Wilkin, ConnersviUe, Ind. — "Carnation Supports." 

In addition, the editor has to acknowledge the kind 
permission granted by C. Harman Payne, Caterham, 
Kent, England, to reprint the list of books on Carnations 
from his Florists' Bibliography, a most useful work. The 
chapter on *' Carnations in Europe " is reprinted in an 
abridged form by permission of the author, C. Engel- 
mann, from the Year Book of the Perpetual Flowering 
Carnation Society, 19 14; and wherever extracts from other 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

sources have been made or quoted, care has been taken to 
acknowledge them either in the text or in the footnotes. 
The general chapter on cultivation is mainly from the 
lucid writings of Fritz Bahr, Highland Park, III., in The 
Florists' Exchange. The Proceedings of the American 
Carnation Society, 1892- 19 14, have also been consulted 
on many points. 

For permission to use photographs we tender thanks 
to the Directors of the New Jersey Experiment Station, 
and the Vermont Agricultural Experiment Station; to 
Cassell & Co., and Methuen & Co., London, Eng. ; Carna- 
tion Support Co., Connersville, Ind.; Hitchings & Co., 
Ehzabeth, N. J.; Skinner Irrigation Co., Troy, Ohio; 
Sutton & Sons, Reading, Eng.; A. A. Gannett, Geneva, 
N. Y.; also to Chas. W. Johnston, Morgan Park, III., for 
material for photographing 



FOREWORD 



We have in the Carnation one of the great flowers of 
the ages, ranking only second to the Rose in universal 
esteem. The Carnation has been a favorite flower of the 
peoples of all degree for at least 2000 years. It is a flower 
older than any earthly dynasties, and has been the subject 
of consideration by poets and philosophers these hundreds 
of years. 

In memory we go back to the time when it was culti- 
vated, probably as a single-flowered plant in the gardens 
of the Greeks and Romans. By selection and care the 
Clove Carnation in many varieties had already become a 
handsome double flower some 400 years ago, at which time 
records of it again emerge. Its elasticity of constitution 
made it highly susceptible of improvement and in patient, 
careful hands it divided into several distinct types, and 
down to the present day new sections are still being 
evolved. 

It is doubtful whether the older, hardy kinds, so much 
beloved by European fanciers, have been greatly improved 
in the last two or three generations. There are, indeed, 
one or two varieties whose history goes back nearly a 
century. Progress, nevertheless, has been made, especially 
among the yellow-ground Carnations. 

Then the uprise of the American Carnation marked a 
very distinct divergence, the chmax of which has not yet 
been reached. Only a few years ago the late John Thorpe 
predicted that the diameter of our Carnation blooms would 
one day be 4 in. His prediction was soon fulfilled. Since 



FOREWORD 

then, by cross breeding with the Malmaison Carnation, 
even larger flowers than this have been developed, and 
this characteristic has, moreover, been united with the 
perpetual flowering trait of the American Carnation. 

It is not generally known just how varied are the 
colors of this flower; our commercial Carnations are so 
much confined to white, pink, scarlet, crimson and yellow, 
that mauve, purple and the beautiful fancy combinations 
that have arisen in the perpetuals in recent years are 
almost overlooked by many of us. Even if only for the 
sake of variety one would hke to see more of these novel 
shades. 

American cultivators have a very pure type or strain, 
and happily, by the careful awards made by the judges 
of the American Carnation Society, the merits of the 
commercial Carnation are very carefully and rigidly pre- 
served and safeguarded. The result of this has been and 
is that the American Carnation has obtained pre-emmence 
all over the world for its qualities of vigor, floriferousness, 
and the brightness and general excellence of its flowers. It 
has done this against some prejudice and even opposi- 
tion, but "truth will out": there could be no check for 
any length of time to the filling of its true position by a 
subject of such sterling superiority. Even as a border or 
bedding plant it is challenging the European Carnation in 
its own field. 

Although the flower may have its dark periods, when 
other favorites seem to crowd it a little and depreciate its 
value in the public eye, these are only temporary, and a 
flower so graceful, so bright, so fragrant and free can never 
be submerged nor relegated to any inferior position. It 
will in the future, as for so many lifetimes behind us, remain 
one of the best beloved of all the flowers. 



CONTENTS 

(For Classified Index see Pages 257-262.) 

Pages 
Chapter I — The Carnation Family 1 1-16 

Chapter II — Development of the Carnation 17-50 

Chapter III— Profits on Carnations 51-56 

Chapter IV — Packing, Shipping and Business Matters 57-67 

Chapter V — General Cultural Calendar 68-1 16 

Chapter VI — Sectional Cultural Treatises 1 17-1 57 

Chapter VII — American Carnations in Europe i 58-167 

Chapter VIII — The American Carnation as an Outdoor 

Bedding Plant 168-171 

Chapter IX— The Malmaison Carnation 172-175 

Chapter X — Border and Annual Carnations and Pinks 176-183 

Chapter XI — Varieties of the American Carnation 184- 191 

Chapter XII — Hybridizing and Crossbreeding 192-203 

Chapter XIII — Exhibiting and Judging Carnations 204-212 

Chapter XIV — Best Type of Greenhouse 213-227 

Heating and Fuel 227-230 

Chapter XV — Insects, Diseases and Other Pests 232-252 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page Page 

Annual or Marguerite Carna- Bench, side view of showing 

tions 180 construction, 224; molds for 

Aphis, result of attack by, cement posts. 223 

108, 231, 233 Border Carnation propagated 

Bedding or Border Carnation by layering 177 

from seed 171 Box of Carnation blooms care- 
Bench, concrete, McCasIan's fully packed 64 

sectional 226 Bud rot disease 249 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Page 

Buds and flowers, types of . ... 131 

Bull-headed flower dissected . . 236 

Carnation, dissection of a 

double flower 22 

Carnations: 

Cuttings in benches 76 

In the field 80 

Present day commercial 

type of double 13 

Single 12 

Stem and leaves of double 

and single 15 

Three hundred years ago. 19, 21 

Cuttings: 

Carefully packed 61 

Types of 72, 73 

Dailledouze, John 24 

Dianthuses, dwarf hardy, a 

rock garden home for 181 

Dorner, Frederick 35 

Exhibits of Carnations: 

Groups 205, 21 1 

Bouquet 212 

Basket 207 

English Show or Border. . . .209 

Fisher, Peter 41 

Field of Carnations in bloom . . 97 
Flower, section of double, 195; 

single 196 

Greenhouse: 

Cast-iron base for, 216; 
columns strongly bolted 
and clamped, 216; capped 
iron sill, 220; " Z " bar 

eaves plate 220 

For Carnations, interior 

view, 107; in Sussex, Engl. 165 
Large modern, 60 ft. by 600 
ft 218 



Greenhouses: 

With benches newly planted. 93 
Of a large firm at Cleve- 
land, O 146 

Hill, E. Gurney 39 

Layering Carnations 177 

Leaves damaged by aphides 
and thrips 233 

Malmaison Carnations in 
June 173 

Marguerite Carnations 180 

Packing flowers for shipment. . 64 
Perpetual-flowering Malmai- 
son Carnation 162 

Pink, double border, Her 

Majesty 182 

Pot-grown Carnation 115 

Propagating house 76 

Skinner Irrigation System in 

operation in Carnation field. 83 
Soil scarifier, the Sydenham. . . 95 
Steaming the soil, inverted pan 

for 90 

Stem-rot disease 239 

Stopping young plants 123 

Supports, ring. 99, 100, loi, 102, 103 

Thorpe, John 25 

Thrips, result of attack by ... . 233 
Varieties: 

Cottage Maid 151 

Gloriosa 139 

Gorgeous 59 

Enchantress Supreme 187 

Matchless, vase of. Frontispiece 

Mrs. C. W. Ward 44 

Peerless Pink 136 

Pink Sensation 49 

Princess Dagmar 143 

Rosette 67 

White Enchantress. 43 

White Perfection 42 

Winsor, bloom of, 157; vase 

of 200 

Yellow Prince 190 

Ward, Charles Willis 45 



CHAPTER I 



The Carnation Family 

To mention botany is to frighten off a good many 
lovers of garden flowers, who may be extraordinarily en- 
thusiastic in the cultivation of their favorites, but seldom 
dip very far into the study of their scientific relationships. 

Montagu C. Allwood, in "The Perpetual Flowering 
Carnation," more neatly than any one else, has expressed 
the relationship of the members of the Carnation family: 
*' All Carnations of the present day, in their various 
classes, from the gigantic Souvenir de la Malmaison down 
to the humble little Dianthus glacialis, are connected; but 
Dianthus Caryophyllus, more commonly known as Pink, 
is the branch of this large family which is more closely 
connected with our modern flower, and is a native of 
Southern Europe." 

There is a large number of members of this Carnation 
family, which the botanists call " the natural order Cary- 
ophyllacese," and their relationship is based upon the 
botanical similarity of their flowers, stems and leaves. 
There are said to be about sixty genera and eleven hundred 
distinct species, a species being the true wild original type. 
Some of these " types," because of their nobility and natural 
beauty, were taken into gardens ages ago and under the 
fostering hand of the owners of the gardens they gradually 
became improved. Such was and has been the case with 
the types (or species) called Dianthus Caryophyllus, 



12 



THE CARNATION FAMILY 



parent of all the Carnations; Dianthus plumarius, parent 
of the hardy Garden Pinks; Dianthus barbatus, parent of 
the whole race of Sweet Williams; and so on. 

When once improvements were begun they were, 




N. J. Ex. Stat. 



Single Carnation 



generally speaking, maintained. So it comes that by 
selecting always the biggest and best blooms and propagat- 
ing from them, and then in more modern days combining 
the desirable attributes of different varieties by hybridizing, 
the gardeners and florists of the past very slowly and gradu- 



THE CARNATION FAMILY I3 

ally evolved the fine races of flowers we possess and admire 
today. 

But all the original types or species were not treated 
in this way. Many of them remain just as Nature made 




N. J. Ex. iStat. 

Present Day Commercial Type of Double Carnation 



them, or with comparatively little change. It often hap- 
pens that a species does not prove tractable or amenable 
to improvement, or man's idea of improvement. In that 
case the plant remains true to its wild type, yet it may be 
so pretty and charming that it remains a desirable garden 



14 THE CARNATION FAMILY 

plant. The growers therefore either raise it artificially in 
their nurseries or obtain fresh supplies from the hill lands 
and natural habitats of the south of Europe, where most 
of the Dianthuses grow wild. 

Professor Asa Gray, in his " Manual of Botany," 
mentions the following four species of Dianthus as having 
become naturalized in America: 

D. Armeria, L. (Deptford Pink.) Annual; flowers 
clustered; bractlets of the calyx and bracts lance-awl-form, 
herbaceous, downy, as long as the tube; leaves linear, 
hairy; petals small, rose color with white dots, crenate. — 
Fields, etc., eastward. July. 

D. PROLiFER, L. Annual, smooth, slender; flowers 
clustered; bractlets ovate, dry, concealing the calyx; 
leaves few, narrow, linear, erect; petals small, pink. — N. J. 
and E. Penn. 

D. DELTOiDES, L. (Maidcu Pink.) Perennial; leaves 
short, narrowly lanceolate, downy and roughish; flowers 
solitary; bracts ovate, half as long as the tube; petals rose 
color or white, toothed. — Mich., L. H. Bailey. 

D. BARBATUS, L. (Swcct William.) Perennial; flowers 
fascicled; leaves large, lanceolate; bracts filiform-attenu- 
ate, equalling the calyx. — Sparingly spontaneous. 



In addition to these there are quite a number of other 
Dianthuses or Pinks that are cultivated either in beds or 
rock gardens, among which the following may be mentioned: 

D. ALPiNus, a favorite rock garden plant, with rose- 
colored flowers; D. c^sius, called in England, where it 
grows wild, the Cheddar Pink, a beautiful, hardy Pink 
with rose-colored flowers; D. chinensis, the Indian or 
China Pink, a well-known annual, the variety Heddewigii 



THE CARNATION FAMILY I5 

being one of the best, also laciniatus; D. Knappii, with 
pale yellow flowers; D. neglectus, with highly attractive, 
greenish blue foliage in tufts, and rose-colored flowers; 




A'. J. Ex. Stat. 

Stems and Leaves of (i) Double and (2) Single Carnation 



1 6 THE CARNATION FAMILY 

D. PLUMARius, the Feathered Pink, or Pheasant's Eye, being 
the parent of the numberless race of Garden Pinks, a very 
famous species; and D. superbus, commonly known as the 
Fringed Pink. 

The natural order Caryophyllacese, Pink or Clove- 
wort order, is described in Oliver's '* Systematic Botany," 
as: "Herbs with swollen nodes; opposite, sessile and 
usually connate, entire, and usually exstipulate leaves; 
and regular cymose flowers. Sepals 4-5, free or connate; 
the other parts of the flower sometimes separated from the 
calyx by a short stalk or gynophore. Petals 4-5, rarely 
wanting, usually clawed, hypogynous or sub-perigynous. 
Stamens 8-10, or rarely fewer, hypogynous or sub-perigy- 
nous; filaments sometimes connate at the base. Ovary 
I -celled by breaking down of the dissepiments in growth, or 
3-5-celled at the base, with few or numerous ovules arising 
from the free-central placenta or axis; styles 2-5, stigmatic 
down the inner surface. Fruit a capsule dehiscing by 
valves or short teeth. Seeds small, albuminous, with a 
usually curved embryo and a sculptured testa. A large 
order, occurring chiefly in the temperate and cold regions 
of the Northern hemisphere; some of them extending into 
Arctic and high mountain regions; and having affinities 
with Portulacese, Illecebraceae, and Chenopodiacese. 
They are mostly devoid of active properties, a few only 
containing the deleterious principle called saponine." The 
principal genera or families of the order are Dianthus, or 
Pink; Saponaria, or Soapwort; Silene, or Catchfly; 
Lychnis, or Campion; Sagina, or Pearlwort; Arenaria, or 
Sandwort; Cerastium, or Chickweed; Stellaria, or 
Stitchwort; and Gypsophila, or Baby's Breath. 



CHAPTER II 



Development of the Carnation 

From what has been said in the preceding chapter, it 
will be understood that our present-day commercial Carna- 
tions, which are grown by millions all over this country 
and in many other countries of the world, are a development 
of one particular member of the Dianthus family. More 
than this, they are derived from a special strain or section 
of Dianthus Caryophyllus. This plant has been cultivated 
possiiily for well over 2000 years, for the scholars tell us 
that the earhest historical allusions to this dainty and 
precious flower occur as long ago as the period before the 
coming of Christ. That statement is more impressive of 
the antiquity of this much prized plant than any other that 
could be made. 

The American Carnation came from a French strain 
over 70 years ago. Yet Carnations had split up into other 
strains before then, these being developed according to the 
tastes and ideals of the florists in the several countries where 
they were found. The English and Germans had (and still 
have) their Border Carnations, the varieties of w^hich are 
sub-divided or classified into selfs, Picotees, bizarres, 
fancies and flakes. It is to these forms of the Carnation 
that the National Carnation & Picotee Society of England 
devotes itself. Since the year 1900, however, interest in the 
American strain of Carnation has eclipsed the interest in 



I 8 DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 

the old English hardy Border varieties. Italy, France, 
Spain, Holland and Germany have each also paid marked 
attention to the American strain of the Carnation. There 
is in France the biennial Grenadin type, which is largely 
treated as an annual, and which throws both single and 
double flowers. The Marguerite (or Margaret) kinds are 
also popular in European countries, France particularly, 
because they yield armfuls of good flowers, even from 
sowings made the same year. The " Riviera " Carna- 
tions are closely aUitd to these. As for the large Mal- 
maison Carnations, these, too, originated in France — one 
authority* says in 1857 — but they were very early culti- 
vated in Scotland, where some fine varieties were raised. 
After this brief statement of facts we come down 
closer to details, although nothing hke an exhaustive 
history of Carnations is here attempted. Going back to 
1629, at which date John Parkinson's floricultural book, 
" Paradisus Terrestris," was pubhshed, he, as one of the 
earliest authoritative writers, furnishes a very satisfactory 
account of our flower in those days. Half a century 
earlier than that, Thomas Hill described its cultivation in 
the " ProfTitable Arte of Gardening," and Gerarde in 1597 
had shown that he^e was a flower that the old monks in 
their monastic gardens, and other lovers of flowers, had 
already taken considerable care of. We will quote Par- 
kinson's own words: 

Caryoj>fn/lli(s hortoisis. Carnations and Cillo/low'^rs. 

To avoid confusion I must divide Gilloflowers from Pinkes and intreate of them in 
several Chapters, of those that are called Carnations or Gilloflowers as of the greater 
kinds in this Chapter; and of the Pinkes as well double as single, in the next. But 
the number is so great that to give severall descriptions to them ail were endlesse, at 
the least needlesse. I will therefore set downe onely the descriptions of three ffor unto 
these three may be referred all the other sorts) for their fashion and manner of growing, 
and give you the severall names of the rest, with their variety and mixture of colours in 



R. P. Brotherston in " The Book of the Carnation," p. 35. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



19 




Carnations of 300 Years Ago 

1, Master Tuggie's Princess; 2, the French or Oxford Carnation; 
3, the Westminster Gilloflower; 4, the Bristow Carnation; 5, the 
Chrystal or Chrystalline; 6, the Striped Sauadge; 7, the Granpere 
or Greatest Grenado; 8, the Dainty; 9, John Witty's Great Tawny 
Gilloflower; 10, the Stript Tawny; 11, the Marbled Tawny; 12, Mashe 
Tuggie's Rose Gilloflower. ( Prom " Paradisus Terrestris.") 



20 DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 

the flowers, wherein consisteth the chiefe difference. I account those that are called 
Carnations to be the greatest, both for leafc and flower, and Gilloflowers for the most 
part to bee lesser in both; and therefore, will give you each description apart, and the 
Orenge tawnie or yellow Gilloflower likewise by it selfe, as differing very notably from 
all the rest. 

This classification of Carnations was probably the 
first ever attempted, and Parkinson then proceeds to name 
and describe, (i) the Great Harwich or old Enghsh Carna- 
tion; (II) the Red or Clove Gilloflower; (III) the Yellow or 
Orange Tawny Gilloflower. Following this he gives a 
condensed description of nineteen varieties of Carnations, 
and twenty-nine varieties of Gifloflowers (Gillyflowers). 
These are all quite apart and distinct from the ** small 
wild Gilloflowers " or Pinks, descriptions of which are 
also given. As Parkinson was in constant correspondence 
with friends on the Continent, it may be assumed that he 
knew and described all the leading, well marked varieties 
of the flower as known and grown in Europe in his day. 
He was acquainted with Theophrastus's reference to the 
Dios anthos, and adds, " Some would have these to be the 
same as the Carnations and Gilloflowers (July-flowers)." 
The scent of the ordinary red Gilloflower much resembled 
the Clove of commerce and the name Caryophyllus is in 
allusion to this, the Clove being called Caryophyllus 
aromaticus. The Dios anthos {Dios, God; anthos, a flower, 
the Dianthus or Divine Flower) is also from the ancient 
Greek. The name might also be translated as " Jove's 
flower," Jove being the chief divinity of the ancients. 
On the other hand, the English name. Carnation, is of 
doubtful meaning, but generally understood to have been 
apphed to distinguish a deep red color. Other etymolo- 
gists beheve it to be from " Coronation," suggesting that 
the flowers were much used for weaving into crowns or 
chaplets for the head. 

With the passing of the centuries the Carnation had its 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



21 




Carnations of 300 Years Ago 

1, The Great Old Carnation or Gray Hulo; 2, the White Carnation; 
3, the Camberwell or Poole Carnation; 4, the Fair Maid of Kent; 5, 
the Blush Sauadge; 6, the Gredeline; 7, the Grimelo or Prince; 8, the 
Great White Gilloflower; 9, Master Bradshawe's Dainty Lady. 



22 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



ups and downs, and on the balance of things was making 
progress. By the end of the seventeenth century very 
large flowers in {numerous colors, some of them flaked and 
edged, were in 'greatest favor, and the biggest bloom with 
the best burst calyx, a Burster, was the most prized of alL 









X. J. Ex. Stilt. 

A Long Way from the 



Dissection of a Double Flower 

FiVE-PETALLED PiNK 



If the calyx did not spht the flower was a Whole Blower, 
and the gardeners used to help matters along by slitting 
the calyx either with a penknife or scissors. This vogue 
continued seemingly, until the opening of the nineteenth 
century. PhiHp Miller in his " Gardeners' Dictionary," 
in the middle of the eighteenth century, mentions it, and 
advice as to splitting occurs for half a century after that. 
But the ideal form of the Carnation of those days was very 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 23 

similar to our ideal of today — high in the center, spreading 
and rounded. In 1702 Ray named 360 good sorts of Car- 
nations; and Hogg, in his treatise on the Carnation in 
1820, gives a catalogue of about the same number. 

THE AMERICAN STRAIN 

The type called Tree Carnation had been in cultivation 
for fully a hundred years, and was grown as a pot plant for 
flowering in greenhouses both in Europe and America until 
the American strain began to edge it off the stage. The 
challenge of the new race, the race or strain to which this 
book is ahiiost entirely devoted, w^as first registered in the 
year 1842.* The American Carnation came out of France. 
It was derived from the former French Remontant (liter- 
ally, remounting or everflowering), out of which a grower 
named Dalmais, of Lyons, France, raised the first perpetual 
blooming variety. The immediate progenitor of Dalmais's 
variety was one called Carnation de Mahon, which flowered 
in November, fertilized with pollen from one called Biohon, 
the offspring being again crossed with a Flemish type of 
Carnation, and recrossed and selected until a distinct 
strain was obtained. The first of the name varieties was 
named Atim. In a period of two or three years he raised 
many improved varieties, but they were, in the main, tall 
growing, like the old Tree Carnations, and straggly. 

Monsieur Dalmais's work was continued by two other 
growers of the same town, namely, M. Schmidt, on whose 
heels followed M. Alphonse Alegatiere, who each assisted 
in the improvement of the earlier type, the latter most 
notably. Two of his varieties, Edwardsii and La Purite, 
were grown for many years in the United States. 

*See "American Florist," fourteenth number, 1SS6. 



24 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



Meanwhile, in 1852, a compatriot of these Frenchmen, 
named Chas. Marc, situated at Flatbush, Long Island, New 
York, had been able to introduce some of their seedhngs 

to this country. That is all we 
hear of him, but in 1856 the 
name of Dailledouze appears, the 
firm Dailledouze, Zeller & Gard, 
then of Flatbush, L. I., having 
obtained seed of the new per- 
petual flowering strain from a 
friend in Lyons. This firm began 
the work of cross breeding Car- 
nations in America, which work 
was continued during the next 
generation, and from time to 
time notable and superior va- 
rieties were introduced. In 1872 
the Dailledouze firm issued a 
catalogue of 54 varieties, and 
nearly at the same time the 
variety Victor Emmanuel, which 
caused such a sensation, was introduced by Donati, another 
Frenchman, at Astoria, L. I., so that it will be seen how 
much we owe to the work of the French growers in the 
laying of the foundations of this fine type of flower. 

M. Donati was also the raiser of the yellow variety 
Astoria, named after Astoria, in Long Island, generally 
recognized as the progenitor of the yellow varieties of 
today. In 1876, Rudolph Hinze raised the white named 
after himself. It was this variety, Hinze's White, which 
was used as the principal parent when Mr. Dorner began 
his crossbreeding in 1888, and was referred to by him as 
the source of his best varieties. 




John Dailledouze 

Born Geneva, Switzerland, 1828; 
died Brooklyn, N. Y., 1882. One of 
the first raisers of Carnations in 
America. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



25 




Chas. T. Starr was another of the early raisers, and 
indeed one of the most successful in his time. He con- 
tributed up to his death, in 1895, no fewer than §§ varieties, 
the best of which was Buttercup, 
which was disseminated in 1884. 
Grace Wilder, by Jos. Tailby, 
became and remained the stand- 
ard rose-pink variety until the 
appearance of the universally 
grown and famous variety Wm. 
Scott. This was raised in 1893 
by Mr. Dorner, and was the most 
notable pink of its day, and long 
remained so. Three years pre- 
viously the world-famous white 
variety, Lizzie McGowan, was 
introduced, and it, too, had a 
tremendous sale, being cultivated 
not only in this country, but 
throughout Europe and other 
parts of the world until within 
a few years ago by the hundred thousand. 

John Thorpe, affectionately called " Uncle John," 
and W. P. Simmons, both of whom were true lovers of the 
Carnation, and filled a large part in the history of its de- 
velopment and exhibition during the 8o's and 90's, intro- 
duced Portia, Tidal Wave, Daybreak and Silver Spray. 

In 1890, Sewell Fisher's Mrs. Fisher appeared, and took 
its place as one of the leading whites. At this time E. G. 
Hill was also quietly at work crossbreeding, and among 
other novelties introduced Flora Hill, referred to more 
fully subsequently. It took a leading place as a white for 
several years, with Hill's America as a scarlet. 



John Thorpe 

Born Leicester, Eng , 1841; died 
Chicago, 1909. A notable florist 
and one of the founders of the 
S. A. F. & O. H. 



26 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



The veteran R. Witterstaetter was also an eminent 
and successful raiser in his day, happily still with us, and 
from his hands came the varieties Estelle, Afterglow, Aris- 
tocrat, and Pres. J. A. Valentine, the latter registered as 
recently as in 191 2. John Hartje raised and sent out the 
fine scarlet Jubilee. These, with the addition of Dorner's 
and Peter Fisher's later varieties, also Mr. Ward's and a 
few others still undergoing a final test as successful com- 
mercial varieties, bring the record abreast of the present 
day. The two last named vie with Dorner as successful 
cross-breeders. 

Varieties Registered to the Year 1900 
For the sake of completing as far as possible the 
record of the earlier varieties, with a brief description of the 
color, and date of introduction, name of raiser, etc., we 
append the following list of those that were introduced 
in America, or registered with the American Carnation 
Society up to and inckiding the year 1900. When the 
disseminator is other than the originator, both names are 
given, the originator preceding. These lists appeared in 
the annual reports of the American Carnation Society: 

[1863-1893] 



A. C. Fitzpatrick, Simmons, white, 
striped crimson. 

Ada, 1891, Davis, dark purple. 

Adelaide, 1892, delicate pink. 

Albany, carmine pink. 

Alegatiere, 1881, Alegatiere, red. 

Alexander, 1891, Ussing, deep pink. 

American Banner, white, striped car- 
mine, edged with crimson. 

American Flag, 1890, Bergman, white, 
striped scarlet, sport from Portia. 

American Florist, 1888, Starr, rosy 
orange, variegated with carmine. 

American Wonder, Syn. of La Favorite. 

Amy, 1880, white, striped pink. 

Amy Phipps, 1888, Simmons, yellow, 
striped red. 

Andalusia, 1884, French origin, sulphur 
yellow. 



Angelus, 1891, Shelmire, deep pink. 

Anna Webb, 1885, Fisher, crimson. 

Annie Wiegand, 1891, Dorner, Hill, light 
pink. 

Anthony's Pink, Syn. of Chas. Sumner. 

Astoria, 1863, Wilson, yellow, marked 
with crimson and scarlet. 

Astoria Bertine, orange, mottled crimson. 

Attraction, 1892, Dorner, a shade be- 
tween scarlet and crimson. 

Aurora, 1892, E. Swayne, light pink. 

Avalanche, 1892, dark, rich pink. 

Avondale, 1880, Starr, white, edged with 
purple and maroon. 

B. A. Elliott, Syn. of Secretary Hunt. 

Baltic, dark maroon. 

Banner, 1893. 

Bayard Taylor, 1880. Starr, white and 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



27 



Beatrice, salmon. 

Beatrice White, 1884, white. 

Beautv, 1882, Hill, rose. 

Beauty of Oxford, 1889, pink. 

Ben Halladav, Europe, yellow. 

Ben Hur, 1892, Dorner, Hill, pink. 

Bertha Soper, 1890, pink. 

Bertha Stahl, 1893, Edwards, carmine 

pink. 
Black Knight, 188f>, Thorpe, crimson. 
Black Prince, 1885, crimson. 
Blanch, 1898, Dorner, white. 
Blizzard, 1888, Starr, yellow, striped red. 
Bohenuan Girl, Campbell and Kennedy, 

deep salmon, shading lighter, sport 

from Snowden. 
Boissy, 1886, French, light yellow, 

splashed white. 
Bonny Doon, Henderson, bright magenta. 
Boule de Niege, similar to Edwardsii. 
Bouton d'Or, French, yellow, marked 

with crimson. 
Brewster, 1889, Starr, dark pink. 
Brunette, Lonsdale, rich crimson. 
Brutus, 1893, Shelmire, scarlet, sport 

of Caesar. 
Brusses, 1881, Starr, crimson and red. 
Bryant, Simmons, soft lake, striped 

crimson. 
Buster, 1892, Lenton, dark red. 
Buttercup, 1878, Starr, yellow, striped 

scarlet. 
Caesar, 1891, Shelmire, salmon pink 

marked red. 
Calico, 1883, Starr, creamy wliite, terra- 
cotta and crimson. 
Canada, 1891, dark pink. 
Cardinal, Fisher, deep maroon, spotted 

white. 
Catherine Paul, 1884, pink. 
Century, 1886, Starr, dark pink. 
Charles Henderson, 1884, Thorpe, pink, 
Charles Sumner, 1868, Bock, light pink. 
Charmer, 1885, pink. 
Chastity, 1890, Starr, rosy pink. 
Cherry Lips, 1891, Dorner, Hill, pink. 
Cherry Ripe, 1884, cherry. 
Chester Pride, 1877, Edwards, Starr, 

white, striped scarlet. 
Christmas, 1890. Starr, light pink. 
C. J. Clarke, 1884, Simmons, red. 
Clara Morris, 1886, Simmons, white 

splashed crimson. 
Clifton Fisher, 1886, Fisher, crimson. 
Cloth of Gold, 1888, yellow. 
Columbia, 1886, Thorpe, salmon marked 

with crimson. 
Constancy, 1891, Starr, scarlet. 
Cora Collins, Brinker, lemon yellow. 
Creole, 1891, Dorner, dark crimson. 
Crimson Coronet, 1892, Creighton, crim- 
son. 
Crimson Velvet, 1887, crimson. 
C. Schmitt, 1890, white. 
Cymbeline, 1884. Thorpe, red, striped 

white. 



Daisy, 1875, blush. 

Darkness, crimson maroon. 

Dawn, 1886, Starr, pink centre, shading 

white at edges. 
Daybreak, 1891, Simmons, light salmon. 
Delaware, 1893, Brinton, white, striped 

scarlet. 
Delicata, 1888, cream white, edged pink . 
Diadem, 1870, dull red. 
Diamond, 1893, Brinton, white, with 

pink tinge. 
Dolly Varden, Henderson, buff, striped 

crimson and maroon. 
Dorinda, 1892, Fewkes, Lombard, pink. 
Dorothy, 1891, Shelmire, deep pink. 
Dr. Smart, 1893, Dorner, pink cream. 

striped crimson. 
Duke of Orange, 1878, Starr, orange, 

striped red. 
Eastern Queen, Wood Bros., orange, 

striped red. 
Eclipse, 1881, red. 
Edelweiss, 1891, Shelmire, white, sport 

from Chester Bride. 
Edna Craig, 1893, Dorner, Hill & Craig 

soft bright pink. 
Edmons, scarlet. 
Edwardsii, 1866, white. 
Edwin Lonsdale, 1891, Dorner, Hill, deli- 
cate salmon. 
E. G. Clark. 

E. G. Hill. 1887, Thorpe, scarlet. 
Elmont, 1888, crimson. 
Emily Louise Taplin, 1891, Burrow, 

crimson. 
Emerson, Simmons, salmon, striped 

vermilion. 
Emperor of Morocco, 1881, dark crimson. 
Erminie, 1888, Starr, deep pink. 
Esther, 1893, Dorner, light pink. 
Eureka, Starr, white, striped peachblow. 
Evangeline, 1892, Dorner, white, striped red. 
E. V. Low, 1893, McGowan, carmine and 

yellow striped. 
Excelsior, 1893, Brinton, white. 
Excjuisite. 1892. white, striped p'.nk. 
Fair Rosamond, 1884, pink. 
Fairy Princess, 1884, Thorpe, white, 

penciled with maroon. 
Fancy, 1883, Starr, scarlet, striped with 

crimson. 
Farragut, carmine and yellow, edged 

purple and maroon. 
Fascination. 1882, Thorpe, similar to 

Hinsdale. 
Fawn, delicate pink. 
Ferdinand Mangold, 1886. Simmons, rich 

crimson. 
Field of Gold, 1878, Starr, yellow. 
Firebrand, 1881, Reid, Henderson, scarlet. 
Firelight, 1893, C. J. Pennock, F. M. Pen- 
nock, scarlet. 
Fishkill, Wood Bros., white. 
Fitzpatrick, 1885, white and pink. 
Fleta Fay Foster, magenta, suffused 

with violet. 



28 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



Florence Bevis, Graham, pink. 

Florence Fisher, Fisher, scarlet salmon. 

Florence Van Reyper, 1893, E. J. Van 
Reyper, white. 

Frank McGregor, 1893, red. 

Fred. Creighton, 1890, Creighton, light 
pink. 

Fred. Dorner, 1891, Dorner, Hill, scarlet. 

Fred. Johnson, 1881, Tailby, light red. 

Gauntlet, light carmine. 

General Custer, 1891, Shelmire, varie- 
gated red and white. 

Geneva, 1890, Simmons, lightly striped 
purple. 

George Thorpe, 1884, Thorpe, scarlet. 

George Washington, Zeller, white, dotted 
cherry red. 

Germania, 1886, German, yellow. 

Gibbonsii, 1880, dark crimson. 

Glorious, 1890, dark pink. 

Glory of Venice, orange and rose. 

Glowing Coal, Syn. of Portia. 

Golden Gate, 1889, Starr, yellow. 

Golden Triumph, 1892, Lombard, canary 
yellow, shaded white. 

Goldsmith, 1892, rich yellow, striped red. 

Governor Russell, 1893, Cummings, Mc- 
Carthy, white. 

Grace Battles, 1893, Lonsdale, C. J. Pen- 
nock, delicate pink. 

Grace Darling, 1892, Chambers, pink. 

Grace Fardon, 1889, Simmons, pink. 

Grace Wilder. 1881, Tailby, light pink. 

Grenadine, Europe, deep scarlet. 

Harriet, 1880, Starr. 

Harriet Thorpe, 1884, Thorpe, rose and 
white. 

Harry Palmer, Palmer, scarlet. 

Hector, 1891, Wight, Lombard, scarlet. 

Helen Galvin, 1893. Wight, light pink. 

Henrietta, dark red. 

Hesper, 1893, Wight, yellow, striped red. 

Hinsdale, 1876, white, shaded lilac. 

Hinze's Red, 1879, Breitmeyer, red. 

Hinze's White, 1879, Breitmeyer, white. 

Holmes, Simmons, white, sprinkled with 
rose. 

Hoosier, 1893, Dorner, pink. 

Hugh Graham, 1885, Graham, dark 
scarlet. 

lago, 1893, McGowan, crimson, 

lantha. Burrow, salmon pink. 

Ida McKinley, light pink. 

Ida May, Conrad, creamy yellow, 
splashed with carmine and pink. 

Ideal, 1893, Lenton, white, edges marked 
red. 

Imogen, 1884, yellow, striped red. 

Indiana, 1892, Dorner, creamy white, 
striped bright pink. 

Innocence, 1891, Dorner, pink. 

James Madison, 1878, yellow and crimson. 

James Perkins, 1884, Simmons, reddish 
pink. 

Jay Gould, 1884, Thorpe, brick red. 

J. B. Jacquier, 1890, French, yellow. 



J. B. Kidd, 1886, Simmons, crimson. 

Jeanne Morel, yellow, striped purple. 

Jeannette, 1882, Thorpe, white. 

Jean Sisley, 1882, French, bright scarlet. 

Jennie Parker, 1892, dark pink. 

Jewell, Lonsdale, delicate pink. 

J. J. Harrison, 1886, Simmons, white, 
marked light pink. 

John McCuUough, 1886, Simmons, red. 

John R. Renere, 1892, Jahn Bros., varie- 
gated. 

John Thorpe, Dorner, Hill, pink. 

Joseph Perkins, 1884, Simmons, dark 
pink. 

Josiah Eaton, Jr., 1892, Jahn Bros., 
white. 

J. R. Freeman, 1890, Starr, light crimson . 

J. W. Wolfskin, 1892, C. J. Haettel. 
rosy flesh. 

Juliet, 1884, Thorpe, white, lined red. 

J. Y. Murkland, 1883, Thorpe, bright 
scarlet. 

Kaiser Wilhelm, 1887, purple. 

Karto, yellow, striped with pink. 

Kate, dark flesh color. 

Katherine Storrs, 1893, McGowan, parti- 
colored. 

King Dianthus, 1892, Creighton, white. 

King of the Crimsons, 1876, White, 
crimson. 

La Belle. 1870, English, white. 

Lady Chattin, Starr, carmine, flaked 
maroon. 

Lady Emma, 1875, Starr, bright scarlet. 

Lady Fair, 1890, Starr. 

Lady Martha, 1893, Brinton, penciled 
scarlet and white. 

Lady Maude. 1887, Edwards, white. 

Lady Rachael, 1891, Larkin, purple. 

La Excellent, Starr, white with carmine 
edge. 

La Favorite, 1884, French, rosy carmine. 

La Fayette, 1892, Dorner, carmine. 

La Purite, 1866, Zeller, carmine pink. 

Lasandria, 1891, Starr. 

Laura, English, light salmon. 

Laura Hempstead, 1892, Hempstead, 
bright pink. 

Lavinia, 1892, Lenton, scarlet, spotted 
white. 

Leon Gambetta, 1892, Haettel, deep 
scarlet. 

Lieut. Gov. Sheehan, white. 

Lillian, 1878, Starr, white, striped crim- 
son. 

Little Beauty, 1880, Starr, yellow, 
dotted and edged with rose. 

Lizzie McGowan, 1890, McGowan, 
Chitty, white. 

L. L. Lamborn, 1888, W. Swayne, white. 

Logan, 1886, Graham, light red. 

Lois J. Haettel, 1892, Haettel, white. 

Longfellow, Simmons, salmon rose. 

Lord Clyde. 1878, Starr. 

Louise Porsch, 1891, McGowan, yellow 
striped red. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



29 



Louis Lenoir, 1868, Zeller, dark maroon. 
Lowell, Simmons, purple crimson, shaded 

violet. 
Lucia, 1890, Timme, rose pink. 
Lucy Singler, 1878, bright pink. 
Lulu, 1885, red and pink striped. 
Lydia, 1878, Starr, yellow, striped red. 
Lyon's White, Syn. of Edwardsii. 
Mabel, 1886, Starr, light shell pink. 
Maiden Blush, Wood Bros., white, suf- 
fused with pink. 
Majesty, 1892, Lenton, rich dark pink. 
Margery, white, striped vermilion. 
Marquis of Lome, 1884, English, scarlet. 
Mars, 1884, bright scarlet. 
Marshall P. Wilder, 1884, Thorpe, red 

striped dark crimson. 
Marvel, 1892, dark pink shaded creamy 

white. 
Mary Anderson, 1886, Simmons, white. 
Mary Darce, white, tinged with pink. 
Maud Granger, 1886, Simmons, rose. 
Maude, 1883, Starr, white, slightly 

penciled with carmine. 
May Flower, 1887, salmon pink, striped 

on lighter ground. 
May Queen, 1884, Thorpe, dark pink. 
Meteor, Zeller, light red. 
Meteor, Syn. of Philadelphia. 
Minerva's Pink, 1892, Messmore and 

Turner, pink. 
Miranda, Thorpe, purple. 
Miss Moore, French, white. 
Miss Joliffe, 1864, French, delicate 

salmon. 
Mile. Carle, French, white. 
Mme. Chassons, French, deep rose. 
Mme. Diaz Albertine, 1892, Dorner , light 

pink. 
Mme. Gobet, French, nankeen yellow. 
Mons. Gambetta, Zellar, orange and 

yellow. 
Morning Ray, 1890, Larkin, carmine 

pink. 
Motor, 1890, Starr, salmon, dashed with 

red. 
Mrs. A. Rolker, 1884, Thorpe, salmon. 
Mrs. B. Harrison, Larkin, scarlet, mot- 
tled maroon. 
Mrs. Carnegie, Syn. of Secretary Blaine. 
Mrs. Cassell, 1886, blush rose. 
Mrs. Cleveland, 1887, Lonsdale, Scott, 

pink. 
Mrs. E. Hippard, Thorpe, orange, 

penciled with crimson. 
Mrs. Elizabeth Reynolds, 1892, Dorner, 

pink. 
Mrs. Ferdinand Mangold, 1884, Thorpe, 

salmon, 
Mrs. Fisher, 1890, Fisher, Lombard, 

white. 
Mrs. Garfield, 1886, light pink. 
Mrs. H. C. Frick, Simmons, white i 

variegated purple crimson. 
Mrs. Harris, 1883, white with pink 

blotches centre of each petal. 



Mrs. Harrison, 1891, Dorner, Hill, white, 

faintly marked purple. 
Mrs. Henry M. Stanley, 1893, Shelmire, 

orange, striped red, sport from 

Buttercup. 
Mrs. J. B. Perkins, 1885, Simmons, red. 
Mrs. John W. Colfiesh, 1893, Colflesh, 

bright pink. 
Mrs. Keene, Veitch, English. 
Mrs. Lemuel Fawcett, 1890, Fawcett, 

shrimp pink. 
Mrs. Lonsdale, 1892, Haettel, rosy flesh. 
Mrs. McKenzie, 1878, bright pink. 
Mrs. Robt. Hitt, 1892, Dorner, Hill, 

dark pink. 
Mrs. Skinner, Simmons. 
Myrtle, 1892, Larkin, yellow, striped 

crimson. 
Nelly Bly, 1891, Shelmire, salmon pink, 

striped red. 
Nellie Lewis, 1891, Lewis, Vick, light 

pink, striped darker, sport from J. 

J. Harrison. 
Netherwood, 1892, Creighton, scarlet. 
New Jersey, 1893, McGowan, red. 
Oddity, 1893, Brinton, pink, shaded 

Ohio, 1891, Simmons, Hill, white. 

Old Gold, 1889, bronze yellow. 

Old Rose, 1893, McGowan, salmon pink. 

Oona, 1892, dark pink. 

Orange Blossom, 1892, Jennings, pink 

shading to white. 
Orient, 1886, Fisher, crimson. 
Othello, 1884, Thorpe, deep crimson. 
Paradise, 1892, Lenton, bright red. 
Patti, 1891, Shelmire, white, marked 

with carmine. 
Paxton, 1886, Starr, white, striped with 

scarlet. 
Peachblow Coronet, 1892, Creighton, 

white, heavily blotched with rose 

pink. 
Pearl, 1892, Chambers, C. J. Pennock, 

white, sometimes suffused with 

pink. 
Peerless, similar to Edwardsii. 
Peter Henderson, 1880, Charlton, Nanz 

& Neuner, white. 
Petunia, 1884, Thorpe, white, striped 

lilac. 
Philadelphia, 1878, Kirschner, light red. 
Philadelphia Variegated, Starr, white, 

heavily edged with crimson. 
Pink Beauty, 1892, Jahn Bros., light 

pink. 
Pink of Perfection, Syn. of J. J. Harrison. 
Piru, 1892, Lenton, white. 
Poe, Simmons, cream speckled with 

purple. 
Pomona, 1891, Starr, crimson. 
Portia, 1884, Thorpe, bright scarlet. 
President de Graw, 1878, Zeller, Daille- 

douze, white. 
President Garfield, 1882, Simmons, simi- 
lar to Robt. Craig. 



30 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



Pride of Essex, 1893, Van Reyper, yel- 
lowed striped scarlet. 
Pride of Kennett, 1888, W. Swayne, 

crimson. 
Pride of Penhurst, 1884, European, 

bright yellow. 
Princess Louise, 1881, Tailby, rose. 
Purdue, 1893, Dorner, deep pink. 
Puritan. 1892, Wood Bros., white. 
Purple Beauty, purple. 
Purple Crown, maroon shaded purple. 
Purpurea, 1889, Starr, purple. 
Quaker City, 1886, Banyard, Craig, 

white. 
Queen's Scarlet, Syn. of Portia. 
Queen of the Whites, English, white. 
Ramona, 1892, Lenton, dark red, striped 

white. 
Red Cross, 1891, Dorner, Hill, bright red. 
Richmond, 1892, Dorner, dark rose. 
Robert Craig, 1887, McCallam, red. 
Rob Roy, 1892, Creighton, red. 
Roi des Violets, French, purple. 
Romance, 1892, Lenton, bright red. 
Rosalie, 1892, Essler, rich pink, shaded 

white. 
Rosalind, 1884, Thorpe, pink. 
Rose Hill, 1880, Dailleclouze, salmon red. 
Rosemary, 1889, Starr, pink. 
Rosy Morn, Henderson, salmon pink. 
R. R. Parker, 1887, Starr, peachblow, 

flaked with carmine. 
Ruth Churchill, 1893, Van Reyper, 

crimson. 
Salmon Queen, 1893, Dorner, E. Asmus, 

delicate salmon. 
Sambo, 1893, C. Eisele, dark crimson, 

sport of Century. 
San Mateo, 1891, Dorner, Hill, light red. 
Scarlet Gem, 1886, Graham, Craig, 

scarlet. 
Scarlet King, 1884, Starr, scarlet. 
Scarlet Queen, Syn. of Portia. 
Scarlet Ray, 1893, Ward, striped scarlet 

and white, sport of Portia. 
Secaucus, 1876, carmine. 
Sea Foam, 1881, Hallock & Thorpe, 

white. 
Sea Gull, Dorner, white. 
Sea Shell, 1893, Essler, pink, shading 

light. 
Seawan, 1886, Henderson, crimson. 
Secretary Blaine, 1886, Simmons, white, 

striped bright red. 
Secretary Hunt, 1886, Simmons, deep 

crimson. 
Secretary James, 1886, Simmons, wliite, 

striped scarlet. 
Secretary Kirkwood, 1886, Simmons, 

brilliant crimson. 
Secretary Lincoln, 1886, Simmons, sol- 

ferino and violet, flaked with 

crimson. 
Secretary McVeigh, 1886, Simmons, 

white, shaded rose. 
Secretary Windom, 1886, Simmons, 

scarlet. 



Senator McPherson, 1892, McGowan, red. 
Sensation, 1886, Thorpe, yellow, with 

faint red stripes. 
Sentinel, 1893, Dorner, Hill, scarlet. 
Shellflower, 1890, Henderson, pink. 
Silver Lake, 1884, Fisher, white. 
Silver Spray, 1889, Sinmions, white. 
Sirius, 1892, Haettel, deep scarlet. 
Snowball, 1886, white. 
Snow Bird, 1891, Jennings, white. 
Snow Bound, 1886, white. 
Snowden, 1879, J. Henderson, P. Hender- 
son & Co., white. 
Snow Flake, 1884, white. 
Snow Queen, 1893, C. J. Pennock, F. M. 

Pennock, white. 
Snow White, 1886, P. Henderson & Co., 

white. 
Spartan, 1892, Dorner, brilliant carmine. 
Sport, Syn. of Emperor of Morocco. 
Springfield, 1876, MuUer, rosy pink. 
Starlight, 1888, Hancock, light yellow, 

sport of Hinzie's white. 
Star of the West, deep pink. 
Striped Unique, 1892, Haettel, pink, 

striped white. 
Sunflower, 1892, Lenton, yellow, striped 

red. 
Sunrise, 1885, Kirschner, Craig, yellow 

salmon, marked with red. 
Sunset, 1887, salmon, striped yellow. 
Tecumseh, 1887, Simmons, red. 
The Bride, 1889, Tailby, white. 
Thomas Cartledge, 1892, E. Swayne, 

carmine. 
Tidal Wave, 1887, Simmons, dark pink. 
Topsy, 1880, Starr, deep velvet maroon. 
Unique, Dillon, dark magenta, streaked 

with carmine and pink, sport from 

Lydia. 
Uncle Sam, 1886, Temple, deep crimson 

red. 
^'ariegated La Belle, Starr, white, 

penciled rosy carmine. 
Variegated La Purite, white, striped red. 
Venus, 1878, Starr, light yellow, striped 

carmine. 
Vesuvius, Henderson, dark crimson. 
Victor, 1887, Page, red. 
Village Maid, 1892, Creighton, blush 

marked carmine. 
Vixen, Starr, bright red. 
Volunteer, 1888, Kirk, white, striped 

rose. 
Vulcan, 1892, Crimson. 
Wabash, 1892, Dorner, brilliant deep 

crimson. 
Wanderer, 1890, Larkin, white. 
Waneta, 1891, Chambers, white. 
Washington, 1865, Zeller, red, striped 

with black. 
Waverly, Scott, bright red. 
West End, 1885, Jennings, dark pink. 
Western Pride, 1893, Dorner, white, 

striped scarlet. 
W. H. Brower, white, penciled scarlet. 
Whipper-in, English, scarlet and black 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



31 



White Beauty, 1893, white. 
White Cap, 1892, Lenton, white. 
White Coronet, 1892, Creighton, white. 
White Dove, 1892, Dorner, Hill, white. 
White Gem, 1888, Buxton, white. 
White Grace Wilder, 1888, Van Reyper, 

white. 
White La Purits, 1875, white. 
White Wings, 1891, Dorner, Hill, white. 
Whittier, Simmons, vermilion scarlet. 



Wide Awake, 1892, dark red. 
Wm. E. Rowland, 1886, Pyfer, pink 
Wm. F. Dreer, 1890, Starr, rose pink. 
Wm. Pierce, Sr., 1892, Jahn Bros., pink. 
Wm. Swayne, 1888, Wm. Swayne, white. 
W. W. Coles. 1889, Thorpe, light scar- 
let. 
Yellow Queen, Europe, yellow. 
Zebra, 1892, Ward, parti-colored. 
Zebra, Syn. of Cssar. 



[1894-1900] 



Abraham Lincoln, 1895-96, scarlet. 
Abundance, 189,5-96, vivid pink. 
Acquisition, 1894, salmon, Lombard. 
Ague, Snow, 1894, pink, Snow. 
Alba Perfecto, 1895-96, Betschor. 
Alice, 1895-96, rosv pink. 
Alaska. 1894, white', Chitty. 
Alhambra, 1894, carmine pink, Ingleside 

Nurserle.?. 
Al. Mailaiken, 1894, flesh color, Ingleside 

Nurseries. 
Alma, 1899-1900, pink. Aul. 
Amado, 1894, pure white, Redondo Beach 

Co. 
Amazon, 1897, white. Hake. 
A, M. Hcrr, 1894, scarlet, liill. 
Annie H. Lon.sdale, 18il5-96, white, Myers 

& Samtman. 
Antonio Maceo, 1897, Bridesmaid pink, 

Cottage Gardens. 
Arcadia, 1894, pink, Redondo Beach Co. 
Argyle, 1895-96, bright rose, StoUery. 
Armazindy, 1894, very light, Harrison 

type, Hill. 
Avigusta Rath, 1897, rose pink. Rath. 
Augusta Williams, 1897, white. 
Azalea, 1895-96. 
Baltimore, 189.5-96. pink, Hess. 
Belle Bute, 1899-1900, pink, Aldous. 
Belle Vista, 1899-1900. light pink, Allen. 
Bertha Rath, 1897, white. 
Bess, 1894, Weishaar Bros. 
Bettina, 1894, crimson, Wight. 
Bonibell, 1894, blue-purple. Hill. 
Bon Ton, 1897, Blake. 
Bride of Erlescourt, 1894, white. Miller & 

Sons. 
Bridesmaid, 1894, pink, Dorner. 
Brilliant, 1899-1900, dark pink, Mc- 

Connell. 
Brower, 1895-96, snow white. 
Butler, 1895-96, deep crim.son. 
Calii'ornia Gold, 1899-1900, Sievers. 
Captain King, 1894, white, variegated 

crimson, Pennock. 
Cardinalis, 1897, Shelmire. 
Casa Blanca, 1894, white, Redondo 

Beach Co. 
Cecilia Schwencke, 1897, Dary Daybreak, 

Rath 



Chas. A. Dana, 1895-96, light pink. 
Chas. T. Starr, 1894, bright scarlet, Starr. 
Chicago, 1899-1900. scarlet, Chicago 

Carnation Co. 
Christmas Rose, 1899-1900, cerise. 
Christina Dorner, 1894, light pink, 

Dorner. 
Chuscn, 1894, cream, striped lilac, Re- 
dondo Beach Co 
Citrus, 1894, Lenton. 
Clara^ Barton, 1899-1900, crimson, 

Kretschmar. 
Cleopatra, 189.5-96, orange and scarlet. 
Conchita, 1894, pink, Redondo Beach Co. 
Corsair, 1894, scarlet, Chitty. 
Clifton, 1894, crimson, Vick. 
Clio, 1897, light pink, Pennock. 
Conquest, 1899-1900, white. Capers. 
Couronne de la Vaele, 1894, white, 

Ingleside Nurseries. 
Crimson Wave, 1894, Lenton. 
Crystal, 1894, white, Fisher. 
Crystal, 1894, Lenton. 
Daisy Bell, 1894, white, penciled red, 

Shelmire. 
Dards, 1895-96, bright pink. 
Dazzle, 1895-96, scarlet, Dorner. 
Dean Hole, 1894, yellow. May. 
Defender, 1895-96, carmine, Nicholson. 
Dekoo Mitting, 1894, Morris Floral Co. 
Delia Fox, 1894, deeper than Daybreak, 

Myers & Samtman. 
Diana, 1894, white, Wight. 
Dorothy Forbes, 1899-1900, pink, Heilig. 
Dr. Del Amo, 1894, white, striped and 

edged crimson, Redondo Beach Co. 
Dr. E. P. Lawrence, 1897, cream white, 

marked carmine. Rath. 
Dr. Patzki, 1894, light pink, striped red, 

Redondo Beach Co. 
Flora Hill, 1895-96, white. 
Florence Eddy, 1894, rose, Vick. 
Flushing, 1897, purple. Rath. 
Fort Wayne, 1897, red, Vesey. 
Fred Weir, 1895-96, deep flesh pink, 

Molatsch. 
Freedom, 1897, white, Fisher. 
Gaiety, 1897, pink and white, var. Hake. 
Gsn. Burnside, 1895-96, white, edged deep 

rose. 



32 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



Gen. Sherman, 1895-96, white, penciled 

light pink. 
Gertrude, 1894, Weishaar Bros. 
Glacier, 1895-96, snow white. 
Gladys Rey, 1895-96, buttercup type, 

Barnard. 
Golden Gem, 1895-96, yellow, buttercup 

type. Love. 
Golden State, 1894, bright yellow, Len- 
ten. 
Gov. Markham, 1894, white shaded car- 
mine, Redondo Beach Co. 
Gov. Roosevelt, 1899-1900, bright ma- 
roon, Cottage Gardens. 
Grace Bollinger. 1895-96. 
Guiding Star, 1895-96, Simmons. 
Henrietta Sargent, 1894, pure yellow, 

Tailby. 
Hiawatha, 1897, cardinal, Pennock. 
Hilda, 1894, Weishaar Bros. 
Hon. T. B. Reed. 1895-96. 
Hon. Wm. McKinley, 1895-96. 
Dr. Warder, 1894. crimson, Shelmire. 
Du Marchand, 1894, yellow, striped red, 

Redondo Beach Co. 
Earlham, 1894. light pink. Hill. 
Edith Foster, 1895-96, White. 
Eglantine, 1894, pink. Hill. 
Eldorado, 1894, light yellow edged pink, 

Shelmire. 
Eleanor Ames, 1899-1900, Carmichael. 
Elizabeth Skinner, 1897, Smith. 
Elm City, 1899-1900. white, Kraus. 
Emma Lowrey, 1895-96. 
Emma Quinlin. 1897, rose pink. Rath. 
Emma M. Thompson, 1895-96, pink, 

Scott. 
Emma Wocher, 1895-96, light pink, 

Witterstaetter. 
Empress, 1895-96, dark crimson. 
Encante. 1894, pink, edged blush, 

Redondo Beach Co. 
Ethel, 1895-96, white. 
Eugene Dailledouze, 1895-96, brilliant 

carmine. 
Eulalia, 1894. light yellow, penciled 

light pink, Shelmire. 
Evalina, 1897, Witterstaetter. 
Evening Star, 1895-96. 
Flame. 1895-96, bright scarlet. Cottage 

Gardens. 
Flamingo, 1895-96. 
Flamme. 1894, salmon scarlet, Ingleside 

Nurseries. 
Ida Feder, 1894, light pink, striped car- 
mine, Redondo Beach Co. 
Immaculate, 1895-96. 
Ingleside. 1894, flesh color, striped scar- 
let, Ingleside. 
Intensive, 1895-96. 
Invincible, 1895-96. 

Irene, 1899-1900, pink, Crabb & Hunter. 
Isabelle Hunnewell, 1894, buff and sacrlet, 

Tailby. 
Ivanhoe, 1897, Hancock. 



Ivory, 1895-96, white. 
Jack Frost, 1894. pure white. Swayne. 
Jahn's Scarlet. 1897, scarlet, Fisher. 
James Corbet, 1894, coppery color, Re- 
dondo Beach Co. 
James Dean, 1895-96, Bridesmaid pink. 
J. C. Ainsworth, 1894, white, striped 

pink, Feder. 
J. C. Sibley, 1899-1900, maroon, Heilig. 
John Raynor, 1895-96, deep pink. 
Jno. Young, 1895-96, white. 
Josephine, 1894, Lenton. 
Jos. Jefferson, 1897, Pennock. 
Jubilee, 1894, scarlet. Hill. 
Jupiter, 1894, white, Lombard. 
Kathryne, 1897, White, Fick, 
Katy Schafer. 1895-96. Hill. 
Keystone, 1899-1900, yellow, Heilig. _ 
Kitty Clover, 1894, yellow and carmine 

Shelmire. 
Kohinoor, 1894, white, Pennock. 
Lake City, 1894, white, Taylor. 
La Neige, 1894, pure white, Ingleside Nurs. 
Laura Degenhardt, 1897, yellow, varie- 
gated scarlet. 
Laure E. Doly, 1897, light pink, Fick. 
Lawrence Thomson, 1894, clear pink 

Thomson Bros. 
Leia Underwood, 1894, Morris Co. 
Lena Saling, 1894, deep pink. May. 
Letty Coles, 1895-96. 
Lily Dean, 1894, fancy striped on white, 

Chitty. 
Little Gem, 1894, striped pink on white, 

Chitty. 
Lizzie Gilbert, 1894, scarlet. Wis. Fl. Ex. 
liOnesa, 1894, pink on white ground, Mrs. 

Starr. 
Los Angeles, 1894, pure white, Redondo 

Beach Co. 
Lucy Brenner, 1897, pink and white, 

Rahner. 
Lyone, 1894, delicate shade of pink, 

Shelmire. 
Mabel F. Gray, 1894, salmon rose, 

Ingleside. 
Magnet, 1894, carmine pink, Chitty. 
Mapledale, 1894, pink, Smith. 
Margaret Rath, 1897, rose. Rath. 
Marian 1894, deep scarlet, Shelmire. 
Marina, 1894, scarlet, Redondo Co. 
Mark Hannah, 1897, Christie. 
Martin Wolfskill, 1894, peach, striped 

crimson, Feder. 
Mary Shepherd, 1894, white, Redondo Co . 
Maud Dean, 1894, dawn type. May. 
Mayor Pingree, 1895-96, Breitmeyer. 
May Whitney, 1899-1900, Carmichael. 
Meteor, 1894, maroon, Dorner. 
Marie Starr, 1894, white, Starr. 
McConnell, 1895-96. dark crimson. 
Michigan, 1899-1900, dark red. Walker. 
Minnie Cook, 1894, pink and white, 

Chitty. 
Miss Blanche Payne, 1897, Carr. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



33 



Miss Donnelly, 1894, light pink, Redondo 

Beach Co. 
Miss Helen Gould, 1899-1900, pink, 

Kretschmar. 
M. A. Hunt, 1894, Hunt. 
Mme. Chapman, 1899-1900. pink, Crabb 

& Hunter. 
Morello, 1895-96. 

Morene, 1894, dark crimson, Redondo Co. 
Morning Star, 1897, white, Fisher. 
Mrs. Ayers, 1894, lighter than Tidal 

Wave, Carrol. 
Mrs. C. H. Duhme, 1895-96, light pink. 
Mrs. Childs, 1894, blush, striped pink, 

Redondo Beach Co. 
Mrs. Chas. M. Fick, 1897, pink. Fick. 
Mrs. Mailander, 1895-96, white. Mail- 

Mrs. McBurney. 1895-96. 

Mrs. Mary Hallock Foote, 1897, Given. 

Mrs. Pauline Gussman, 1897, rose pink. 

Rahner. 
Mrs. T. B. Reed, 1895-96. 
Mrs. S. M. Inman, 1895-96. 
Mrs. Sprout, 1894, carmine pink, Redondo. 
Mrs. Titus, 1894, Lenton. 
Mrs. Wm. McKinley, 1895-96. 
Mrs. W. S. Potter, 1895-96, deep pink. 
Nivea, 1897. white. Cook. 
Northern Light, 1897, yellow marked 

pink, DeWitt. 
Oneida, 1897, pure pink. Baker. 
Oregon, 1899-1900, pink. Hill. 
Pacific, 1894, Lenton. 
Paloma, 1894, pink, white edge, Redondo. 
Panchita, 1894, white, striped carmine. 

Redondo Beach Co. 
Pat. O'Mara, 1895-96. brilliant pink. 
Peachblow, 1894, blush pink. Hunt. 
Peari White, 1894, white, Blauvelt. 
Philip Heilig, Jr., 1899-1900, pink, Heilig. 
Pilgrim 1895-96. 
Pike's Peak, 1897, Given. 
Preciosa, 1894, white, Redondo Beach Co. 
Princess, 1897, Barnard. 
Princess Bonnie, 1894, light pink, Shel- 

mire. 
Purple King, 1894, light purple, Pennock. 
Queen Louise, 1899-1900, white, Dillon. 
Red Jacket, 1897, scarlet. Baker. 
Red Wave, 1895-96. Hopkins & Lemke. 
Rosa Pizer, 1895-96, Milno. 
Rose Queen, 1894, pink, Simons. 
Ruby, 1895-96, bright pink. 
Saginaw, 1897, pink and white, var.. Hake. 
Sam Gabriel, 1894, flesh, Ingleside Nurs. 
Samson, 1895-96, white, edged light pink. 
Sandusky, 1895-96. 



Saturn, 1894, pink, Lombard. 

Saxon, 1899-1900, scarlet, Fisher. 

Scallen, 1895-96, variegated white and 
scarlet. 

Scribners, 1895-96, deep pink. 

Sears, 1895-96, brilliant scarlet. 

Sea Shell, 1894, Walker. 

Sebec, 1897, Fisher. 

Shasta, 1895-96, white. 

Silver Ball, 1895-96. 

Silver Queen. 1894. Albertini type. Hill. 

Silver Star. 1895-96, Hancock. 

Sir Thos. Lipton, 1899-1900, pink, 
McKnight. 

Small, 1895-96, delicate shell pink. 

Snow Crest, 1895-96. snow white. 

Snow Drift, 1897, Carrol. 

Souriza, 1894, white, striped lilac, Re- 
dondo Beach Co. 

S. P. Rees, 1894, rosy pink, Feder. 

Storm Queen, 1894, white, Dorner, 

Storm King, 1897, white, Dorner. 

Stumpp, 1895-96, bright pink. 

Sulphide, 1894, Harrison type. Hill. 

Sunbeam, 1894, scarlet, Hartje. 

Sunshine, 1894, yellow, striped scarlet, 
Christie. 

Superior, 1899-1900, salmon, McConnell. 

Syracuse, 1899-1900, light pink, Mar- 
quisee. 

The Copley, 1899-1900. cerise. Greaves. 

The Crawford, 1899-1900, red and white. 

The Grout, 1894, scarlet. Grout. 
Thorley 1895-96, brilliant deep rose. 
Thos. Caird. 1897, dark pink, DeWitt. 
T. H. Spaulding, 1895-96. light pink. 
Trilby, 1895-96, bright cardinal. Cloud. 
Triumph, 1895-96, bright pink. 
Twilight, 1895-96, DeWitt. 
Utica, 1897, white. Baker. 
Van Houtte, 1895-96, dark crimson. 

Pierce. 
Van Leurens, 1894, Blauvelt. 
Vesper, 1894, Hill. 
Vice-Pres. Garret A. Hobart, 1897. 

striped variety. Hagenburger. 
Villisca. 1897, purple and white, Rahner. 
White Cloud, 1897, white, Dorner. 
White Daybreak, 1897, Gasser. 
White Queen, 1895-96, white, Nicholson. 
Wilhelm, 1897, pink var. white, DeWitt. 
Winifred, 1895-96, Hall. 
Wm. I. Burke, 1897, canary yellow. Rath. 
Yellow Jacket, 1894, yellow and scarlet, 

Passmore. 
Young America, 1899-1900, deep pink, 
Totten 



34 DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 

FRED DORNEr's WORK 

Looking over later lists of historic Carnations, and 
over the names of their raisers, one or two among these 
latter stand out pre-eminently, and first that of the late 
Frederick Dorner. Mr. Dorner conducted ** the most 
systematic work in developing the Carnation, and suc- 
ceeded in producing a strain which is recognized as the 
highest development of the American Carnation. His 
records cover a period of twenty-one years, and contain a 
complete list of many thousands of Carnations during 
that time. This strain is distinguished for its easy growing 
habit, its freedom and steadiness in producing blooms, and 
diversity of colors and its adaptability to commercial 
growing."* It was fitting that the American Carnation 
Society should have perpetuated the memory of Mr. Dor- 
ner by instituting the memorial gold medal that bears his 
name, and which is annually awarded now at its exhibitions 
to the raiser of the best undisseminated seedling of the 
year. At the society's meeting at Detroit, Michigan, in 
January, 1912, a paper was read by Prof H. B. Dorner on 
the hybridizing work and methods of Frederick Dorner. f 

Frederick Dorner, Sr., was born in 1837 in Baden, 
Germany, in a town situated in the Black Forest region, 
and came to America in 1855 in his eighteenth year. He 
first obtained employment as a florist at Lafayette, then 
went farming, and in 1865 migrated to Wisconsin, still in 
the farming line, until 1870, when he returned to Lafayette 
and started on his own account as a florist; here he built 
greenhouses, and becoming successful, bought first nine 



33-38. 



*Geo. C. Blitz, in " Stand ax-d Cyclopedia of Horticulture." 

t Proceedings of the twenty-first annual meeting of the A. C. S. , 1912, pages 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



35 




acres of land in 1889, and in 1905 purchased a further 
twenty-four acres, each of these being on Indiana Ave., 
where he built four greenhouses. In 191 1, at the time of 
his death, the firm had over 
100,000 sq. ft. of glass, together 
with a retail estabhshment in 
La Fayette. 

It was in 1888 that he be- 
came interested in experiments in 
the breeding of Carnations, and 
the first varieties he utihzed 
were Silver Spray, Grace Wilder, 
E. G. Hill, Century, Buttercup, 
Heintz's White, Mangold, Mrs. 
Cleveland, Wm. Swayne, Sur- 
prise, Robert Craig, and a variety 
called Purdue. In the following 
three years he added the varieties 
Starlight, Portia, Garfield, Tidal 
Wave, Andalusia, Golden Gate, 
and Daybreak, which were all 
used in his work and show today in many of the later seed- 
lings. His work continued uninterruptedly for twenty-one 
years and during this time he grew over 150,000 seedling 
Carnations. Of this 150,000 not more than 75 ever 
reached the market. The larger number of them went to 
the dump-heap, but we cannot say that their existence was 
in vain, for many of them were the ancestors of some of 
his best varieties of today. 

Mr. Dorner always insisted upon a thorough test of 
each of his novelties, and would not disseminate one until 
he was thoroughly convinced that it was better than 
something already on the market, or that it might fill a 



Frederick Dorner 

Born Baden, Germany, 1837; 
died La Fayette, Ind., 1911. Has 
been called the "Father of the 
American Carnation." A most 
painstaking raiser of new im- 
proved varieties. 



36 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



gap somewhere. The list of Mr. Dorner's varieties includes 
the following, and it will be seen that herein are very 
many of the most famous Carnations that have been in 
commerce. The hst, however, is not an exhaustive one: 



Christina Dorner 


Uncle John 


Alba 


Tecumseh 


Michigan 


Senorita 


Hoosier 


Goldfinch 


Mauvina 


Mrs. Harrison 


Dazzle 


Bizarre 


Indiana 


Mrs. C. H. Duhmc 


The Belle 


Ben Hur 


Meteor 


Neptune 


Richmond 


Bridesmaid 


Lady Bountifu 


Purdue 


Mrs. G. M. Bradt 


Eclipse 


Spartan 


Gold Nugget 


Aureola 


Mrs. Elizal)eth Reynolds 


Ceres 


Fiancee 


Mad. Diaz Albertini 


White Cloud 


White Perfection 


Dr. Smart 


Mary Wood 


Red Chief 


Blanche 


G. H. Crane 


Bonnie Maid 


Wabash 


Lorna 


Winona 


Wm. Scott 


Morning Glory 


Pink Delight 


Western Pride 


Dorothy Whitney 


Scarlet Glow 


The Stuart 


Stella 


White Wonder 


Storm King 


Sibyl 


Gloriosa 


E. A. Wood 


Apollo 


Rosette 



One reason of his success was that he had an intimate 
knowledge of the varieties he worked with, and of the 
parentage of each of them. These facts suggested to him 
whether or not a certain variety would be the basis of a 
good flower in its offspring. After the first few years no 
foreign varieties were used at all, owing to the fact that 
these might have had ancestors with objectionable charac- 
ters, which characters might show up in the progeny. 



DORNER S IDEAL CARNATION PLANT 

Prof. Dorner records his father's ideal of what a good 
Carnation should be. " It was a plant that should have 
branches in all stages of development, and when planted in 
the bench should show the same number of flowers and 
buds during the entire year. The leaves of the plant were 
to be (broader and shorter than those varieties that belong 
to the class known as croppers. The leaves were to have 



I 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 37 

a very strong bluish-green color, as this is the natural 
color of those Carnations that have strong constitutions. 
The stems were to be long and stiff enough to carry the 
flower. This did not necessarily mean that they were to 
hold the flower perfectly erect, as he preferred that the 
heads should bend just shghtly toward the side and so 
prevent them from looking stiff". The flowers themselves 
were to have purity of color, were to have size, symmetrical 
form and fragrance, and were to have a non-sphtting calyx." 
In regard to fohage, he always made it a rule never to 
use together two plants with heavy, coarse foHage and 
heavy stems. He preferred using a variety with fine 
fohage with the coarse fohage ones. While it is true that 
the coarse growing varieties give the largest flowers, they 
do not produce enough of them to make them good com- 
mercial varieties. To plant with the intermediate fohage 
is usually the best, giving more flowers of a good average 
size. 

Mr. Dorner was the first florist in the Middle West 
to disbud his Carnations. 

It is interesting to note that among the seedlings 
raised from Daybreak was White Cloud and Lorna, the 
next of the series, which was a seedhng of White Cloud. 
From Lorna came The Belle, and from The Belle came 
White Perfection. White Wonder, the latest of the series, 
is a seedling of White Perfection. 

Since the death of Frederick Dorner in 191 1, the 
work of cross-breeding and growing Carnations by the 
F. Dorner & Sons Co., Lafayette, Ind., has been carried 
on by Theo. A. Dorner. The varieties sent out since 
191 1 include White Wonder, Gloriosa, Champion, 
Yellow Prince, Yellowstone, Pink Sensation and Good 
Cheer. 



38 DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



A THIRTY YEARS SURVEY 

The following most interesting account of the last 
thirty years of American Carnation History, written by Miss 
Sarah A. Hill, sister of Gurney Hill of the E. G. Hill 
Co., Richmond, Inch, splendidly epitomizes the subject, 
and will be read with pleasure equally by the old-timer 
and the beginner: 

[When we began business in 1880, the Carnation was 
classed among " miscellaneous plants "; it had not yet 
become a specialty and was a " Pink," to all intents and 
purposes, to most florists and to nearly all buyers of flowers. 

Up to 1885 the only varieties now remembered even 
by name are probably Grace Wilder, Hinzc's White, La 
Purite (deep cerise), Mrs. Mangold, Pres. DeGraw and 
Portia. 

In our catalogue for 1886, which has now become an 
antique, we open a Carnation section with the remark: 
" We depart from our alphabetic order to give Carnations 
a place next to Roses, where they belong." Then follows 
a list of new sorts, some fourteen in number, none of which, 
except Buttercup and Peter Henderson, wake a responsive 
chord of memory. In 1887, two of John Thorpe's seedlings, 
Columbia and E. G. Hill, together with the English variety. 
Pride of Penshurst, and the French sort. Mile. Carle, were 
introduced as a " set " at 50c. each, and I can readily recall 
the impression made by the last named, for Mile. Carle 
was supernaturally white, on a slender, erect stem, and 
every petal in place. We have nothing now of such per- 
fectly chiseled form, nothing so dazzlingly white, but its 
lack of freedom took it out of commerce completely. Many 
a grower, and more laj-men, fell under the spell of the Car- 
nation from admiration of this lovely variety. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



39 




The year 1888 found Silver Spray and Mrs. Cleveland 
added to the list. Owing to its unusual freedom Silver 
Spray became quite well known and held a place for a few 
years, and in 1890 we find Tidal 
Wave bemg quite generally 
grown. 

We have often wondered 
what developments some of these 
sorts might have made if handled 
under our present practical sys- 
tems. We grew them in those 
pre-historic times often in houses 
running north and south, and 
they certainly were not tied up 
before it was absolutely neces- 
sary. I remember gazing over 
a bench of Tidal Wave in Mid- 
winter and seeing a few dots of 
cerise nestled in the blue-grass 
and w^as surprised and pleased 
with the showing ! 

In 1 89 1, by arrangement 
with Mr. Fred Dorner, we sent out two " sets " of Car- 
nations, all his own seedlings. The first set were sup- 
posed to approach the ideal for commercial growing; the 
second set were sorts that would probably appeal to ama- 
teurs and for use in retail catalogues. In 1893 Edna Craig, 
R Dorner seedling, was sent out. It certainly was a lovely 
flower, a delicious shade of pink, very popular, but it was 
found far from profitable when the returns of the bench 
were footed up. 

In 1894, Dorner himself distributed the fine white. 
Uncle John, and Dailledouze Bros, put Bouton d'Or on the 



E. GuRNEY Hill 

Born Rochdale, England, 1847. 
Came, with his parents, to America 
in 1S51. A florist of international 
reputation, a notable raiser and 
introducer of Carnations, Chrysan- 
themums, Roses. Is president of 
the E. G. Hill Co., Richmond, Ind. 



40 DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 

market, a nice yellow, but not a moneymaker. The year 
'96 saw us struggling with Jubilee, a brilliant scarlet raised 
by Mr. John Hartje, the best of its color, but it proved so 
subject to rust under the then known conditions of culture, 
that it came to be regarded as a pest rather than a prize- 
taker. In the same year (1897) came Flora Hill and Mrs. 
Bradt. These two sorts are still within the memory of the 
older growers and the following year the Dorners gave us 
White Cloud. 

PETER fisher's LAWSON, ENCHANTRESS AND BEACON 

In 1900, we disseminated Ethel Crocker, raised by Jno. 
H. Sievers, a lovely peach pink, which, however, absolutely 
refused to produce a good crop of flowers before Spring 
opened up. Quite a number of florists in love with its 
color, held on to it for a few seasons for its Summer bloom, 
but it shortly fell by the wayside. That year, too, became 
memorable in the forward march of the Carnation by giving 
us Mrs. Thos. Lawson and The Marquis. It is a wonder 
that Mr. Peter Fisher did not collapse with nervous pros- 
tration before the season was over. Everybody wanted 
the wonderful and strikingly advertised Lawson; no 
trouble about getting orders, the trouble was in getting 
the rooted cuttings, for Carnation propagation was not yet 
a science in those days. I think that our order was com- 
pleted late in May, after we had answered hundreds of 
inquiries as to the delay, from florists who had placed their 
orders with us for moderate quantities of this variety. 
However, after all the anxieties and vexations of the Lawson 
introduction, the Carnation had received a great boost in 
its upward climb, and people were delighted with the 
beautiful form and the delightful color. It was at once 
fashionable and popular. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



41 




By 1 90 1, Prosperity was given to the trade — a really 
sensational kind, and absolutely unique; it was in great 
demand. In 1903 Adonis and Enchantress were dis- 
tributed. Mr. Fisher found a 
heavy demand for this latter 
famous seedling, and had Httle 
trouble getting up the enormous 
quantity required. And Adonis ! 
— anyone having literary talents 
might have written a book about 
this glorious crimson scarlet of 
Witterstaetter's. Robt. Craig 
and E. G. Hill completely lost 
their heads at sight of it: strong, 
upright stems, carrying velvety 
flowers of the most intense shade. 
They each bought a third inter- 
est in it, and the triangular 
combination set about introduc- 
ing the young Adonis to the 
American trade, who were ready 
to receive it with open aims. It 

was awarded all sorts of honors, and the press gave it 
quite extravagant notices. It was not till a second season 
that its lack of texture became apparent, and to the 
intense disappointment of lovers of the Carnation, it went 
down like the fall of a rocket. 

Flora Hill was still the most widely prown white, but 
everybody wanted a better one, with stiffer stems early 
in the season. Lady Bountiful was tried with interest, 
and was shortly superseded, in 1906, by White Perfection, 
one of the loveliest and most perfectly formed varieties 
in existence, which was followed, in 1907, by White 



Peter Fisher 



Born 



at Dowelly, Perthshire, 
Scotland, in 1857. Raiser of some 
of the most famous and most 
successful varieties of American 
commercial Carnations. He is 

still busy at work at Ellis, Mass. 



42 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



Enchantress, a sport from the Hght pink parent, and as Rose- 
pink appeared about the same time, the three Enchantresses 
took the course and are still in the running, though they 
are finally losing in stride, especially in the estimation of 
the more careful and exacting growers. 

Along with White Enchantress (1907) came Beacon, 
the freest Carnation ever grown, with many faults at times, 
glorious at others, indispensable, and now we are all watch- 
ing to see what Champion will do. 




Bloom of White Perfection (Somewhat Reduced) 



THE PRESENT DAY 

The year 1909 brought May Day, which is still grown 
and valued in England, and Pink Delight, probably Dorner's 
very best Carnation. It has taken nearly six years to at- 
tain and hold its place at the very top of the light pink 
section, and is still making converts, as it is being shown to 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



43 



have more lasting texture than any other Carnation of any 
color, and while a big Enchantress makes a bigger blur of 
color, its lack of endurance and its tendency to go to sleep 
the day after it is cut have ahenated the affections of many 
a Carnation lover who has not yet ** been shown " the 
staying quaUties of a well grown Pink Dehght. 

Since 1 9 10, the most notable additions have been 
Mrs. C. W. Ward, the queen in its class; White Wonder, our 




Bloom of White Enchantress (Slightly Reduced) 



best all-round white, having superior keeping quahties to 
any other white, probably; while Matchless and Enchantress 
Supreme seem likely to win golden spurs. Benora is our best 
variegated, Yellow Prince our best yellow, and Pocahontas 
a profitable crimson. 

These estimates of values are not made dogmatically. 



44 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



and are open to argument before the court, though we 
believe that the majority of Carnation growers will coincide 




Mrs. C. W. Ward, the Most Popular Deep Pink 



with the writer, except for a goodly number who are still 
absolutely loyal to Enchantress and White Enchantress. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



45 



Among the large number of varieties that are un- 
mentioned, and that '* also ran," there have been some 
beauties of which great things had been hoped, which have 
been admired and valued, which 
have had their short day and 
disappeared; just as numbers of 
one's old schoolmates gave great 
promise in the morning of life, 
only to fall later into obscurity. 

Every Carnation that has 
been an advance over existing 
sorts has been a thin stepping- 
stone toward that perfection to 
which we aspire, and those of 
us who have taken them up and 
tried them have been bearing 
only oui share of building up the 
secure monument of the People's 
Flower. 




Charles Willis Ward 



Born on the site of the present city 
of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, in 1857. 
A very careful raiser of Carnations 

for many years at Queens, L. I., 

and formerly a great force in the 

Carnation world. His best introduc- 

A T, T T j_T r^ ^' T tion was undoubtedly Mrs. C. W. 

Although the Carnation has ward, 
not received so much attention 

from floral artists as the Rose, there are still some exquisite 
paintings of beautiful blooms insome of the specialistic 
publications of the middle and latter half of last century. 
The Carnation has also a remarkable literature of its own. 
More than eighty books have been pubhshed dealing with 
it, the names of which have been compiled by Mr. C. 
Harman Payne of London, Eng., and published in his 
** Florists' Bibliography," a work that every student of 
floral literature ought to possess. This notable and vol- 
uminous list, which follows, speaks eloquently of the wide- 



46 DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 

spread interest that has for so long existed in regard to 
Carnations: 



Allwood, Montagu C. 

The perpetual-flowering Carnation. Burnley, 1907. 

The perpetual-flowering Carnation with a chapter on the American system of Carna- 
tion culture, by George W. Allwood, London. 1912. 
Anweisung, Nelken zu Ziehen. 

Duisberg, 1788. 
A Treatise on the Carnation. 

With plain instructions for its cultivation and management. London (N.D.). 
Brotherston, R. P, 

The Book of the Carnation. London, 1904. 
Brown, A. K. 

Carnations and Picotees. Hyde, 1910. 
Cook, Arthur J. 

Plain Practical Hints by a Member of the National Carnation Society on Growing 
Carnations and Picotees in the Border and for Exhibition. London, 1901-2. 
Cook, E. T. 

Carnations, Picotees, and the Wild and Garden Pinks, etc. London, 1905. 
Cook, J. H.; Douglas, James, and McLeod, J. F. 

Carnations and Pinks. London and Edinburgh, 1911. 
Cook, Laurence J. 

Perpetual Carnations. A complete Manual with all details of cultivation. London, 
1912. 
D'Ardene, Le Fere. 

Traits des CEillets, par I'auteur du traite des renoncules. Avignon, 1762. 
Deutliche Darstellung der Karakteristik, und des Systems der Garten Nelken, 
zum Gebrauch fur alle Nelkenliebhaber bei und nach den Flor. Leip- 
sic, 1808. 
Dodwell, E. S. 

The Carnation and Picotee: Their History, Properties, and Management, with a 
descriptive list of the best varieties in cultivation. Derby, 1886. 
Douglas, James. 

Carnations. London. (N.D.) 
Dupuis. 

L'CEillet, son histoire et sa culture. Paris, 1862. 
Ettler, J. C. 

Die Farben der Nelken unter gemeiniiblichen Namen vorgestellt, nebst Angabe 
eines mahlerischen Verfahrens beim Abkopiren, etc. Gera, 1789. 
Felton, R. F. 

A Short Treatise on Carnation Growing for Pleasure and Profit. London (N.D.). 
Eraser, John. 

Select Carnations, Picotees and Pinks: The History and Cultivation of all Sec- 
tions. London, 1907. 
Freund, H. D. 

Die Cultur dor Garten Nelke. Quedlingburg and Leipsic, 1840. 
Fritsch, C. J. W. 

Die Garten Nelke, ihre Erziehung, Pflege und Vermehrung. Arnstadt, 1875. 
Goube. 

Nouveau traits des ffiillets. Cambrai, 1760. 
Grubert, Rich. 

Remont-Nelken und Amerikanisohe Nelken. Berlin (N.D.). 
Grundliche Anweisung zur Nelkenzucht. 

Frankfort on the Main, 1806. 
Guillot, Auguste. 

Culture pratique de I'CEillet remontant, race lyonnaise a tige de fer. Geneva, 1903. 
Henne, A. S. L. 

Nelkenkalender oder Monatliche Verrichtung mit den Grasblumen. Halle, 1785. 
Hertel. 

Kurze Geschichte der Nelken nebst einem Verzeichniss von denen, die zu Schwerin 
bei ihm zu bekommen sind. Schwerin, 1812. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 47 

Hibberd, Shirley. 

Garden Favorites. The Carnation, Picotee and Pink: Their History, Properties, 
Cultivation, Propagation and General Management in all Seasons. London. 
1857. 
Hogg, Thomas. 

A Concise and Practical Treatise on the Growth and Culture of the Carnation, Pink, 
Auricula, Polyanthus, Ranunculus, Tulip, and other Flowers. London, 1820. 
Huelle, Ger. 

Namenverzeichniss und genaue Beschreibung der auserlessenen Sammlung von 
Nelken und Grasblumen. Bremen, 1790. 
Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society. 

Vol. XIL Part 3, November, 1890. Contains Report of the Carnation Confer- 
ence held at Chiswick Gardens, 22d July, 1890. London, 1890. 
Klupfel, J. A. 

Vortheile zur Erzielung eines guten Nelkensamens. Stuttgart, 1780. 
Knupfer, J. S. 

KurzeAbhandlunguber den Bander Garten-Nelken, Dianthus Caryophyllus horten- 
sis, gennant, und deren Schonheit. Leipsic, 1810. 
Kronfeld, Dr. E. M. 

Geschichte der Garten Nelke. Vienna, 1913. 
Kunst Nelken zu Ziehen und ihre Schonheit zu beurtheilen, 

Nuremburg, 1777. 
Kurze Geschichte der Nelken. 

Schwerin, 1787. 
Lamborn, L. L. 

American Carnation Culture: Its Classification, History, Propagation, Varieties, 
Care, Culture, etc. Third edition. Alliance, Ohio, 1892. Fourth ed., 1901. 
L. B. 

Le Jardinage des CEillets. Paris, 1647. 
L. C. B. M. 

Nouveau traite des ffiillets avec la liste des plus nouveaux. Paris, 1676. 
Leid, Wilhelm. 

Die Garten Nelke. Liebling,sblume Sr. Majestat des Deutschen Kaisers. Ihre 
Zuchtung und Pflege. Arnstadt, 1913. 
Le Texnier. 

Essais sur I'histoire de quelques fleurs d'ornement. L'CEillet, Paris, 1908. 
Mallet, Xavier Robt. 

Beaute de la Nature, ou fleurimanie raisonn^e, concernant I'art de cultiver les 
(Fillets, etc. Paris, 1775. 
Mathias, Hayward and Smith, P. 

The Modern Carnation: How to grow and show it. Burnley, 1906. 
Mottet, S. 

Les CEillets: Historique, description des principales especes, races et varieties, 
multiplication, culture emplois, etc. Paris, 1898. 
National Carnation and Picotee Society. 

(Southern Section.) The Carnation Manual. London, 1892. 
Nelkenflor, oder nach der Natur gemahltes Verzeichniss alter schonen und 
guten Sorten Nelken. 
Meissen, 1791. 
Noter, R. De. 

Les CEillets. Culture et multiplication des diverses especes, races et sous-races. 
Paris, 1909. 
Orengo, Francis. 

Culture de I'CEillet sous chassis, etc. Antibes, 1898. 
Perpetual Flowering Carnation Society. 

The Carnation Year Book, 1910. Edited by J. S. Brunton. The Official Organ 

of the Perpetual Flowering Carnation Society. Burnley, 1910. 
The Carnation Year Book, 1911. Edited by J. S. Brunton. The Official Organ 

of the Perpetual Flowering Carnation Society. Burnley, 1911. 
The Carnation Year Book, 1912. Edited by J. S. Brunton. The Official Organ 

of the Perpetual Carnation Society. Burnley, 1912. 
The Carnation Year Book, 1913. Edited by J. S. Brunton. The Official Organ 

of the Perpetual Carnation Societv. Burnley, 1913. 
The Carnation Year Book, 1914. Edited by J. S. Brunton. The Official Organ 
of the Perpetual Carnation Society. Burnley, 1914. 



48 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



Pigott, Richard. 

A Short Plain Treatise on Carnations and Pinks. 1820. 
Pigott, L. 

Treatise on the Culture and Management of the Carnation, Picotee and Pink. 
Cheltenham (N.D.). 
Ponsort, Baron De. 

Monographic du Genre ffiillet et principalement de I'ffiillet flamand. Second 

Edition. Paris, 1844, 
Appendice du Genre ffiillet. Pari?, 1845. 
Pracktische Anweisung, Nelken zu Ziehen. 

Hanover, 1789. 
Ragonot-Godefroy. 

Traits sur la culture des CEillets. Paris, 1842. 

Catalogue des CEillets d'apees la nouvelle m6thode. Paris, 1843. 
Ravenscroft, B. C. 

Carnation Culture for Amateurs, containing full instructions for the Culture of 
Carnations of all classes in the open ground and in pots. London, 1906. 
Reider; Jacob Ernst Von. 

Die Beschreibung aller bekannten, sowie der neuesten noch sehr seltenen pracht- 
vollen Arten von Nelken, Aurikeln und Primeln und deren verbesserte Kultur. 
Leipsic, 1835. 
Roessig, Karl Gott. 

Die Nelken nach ihren arten, etc. Gezsichnet und ausgemalt. 4to. Leipsic, 
1806-7. 
Rudolph, Jules. 

L'CEillet a la grande fieur. Historique, description des varieties, cultures. Paris 
1903. 
Rudolphi, J. C. 

Nelkentheorie, oder in systematischer Ordnung nach der Natur gemalte Nelken- 
tabelle. Meissen, 1787. 
System der Garten Nelke, etc. 

Berlin, 1827. 
Sanders, T. W. 

Carnations, Picotees and Pinks. London, 1910. 
Tagliabue, A. L. 

Saggio sulla cultivazione usi e classazione del garofano. Milan, 1837. 
Taudevin, C. H. 

The Cultivation of the Perpetual Flowering Carnation. Cheltenham, 1908. 
Termier, Francois. 

Observations sur la culture des fleurs et particuliSrement sur celle des CEillets et 
les maladies auxquelles ils sont sujets. Chamb6ry, 1816. 
The Cultivation of the Picotee. 

To which is added the cultivation of vines in pots. London (N.D.) 
Tyas's Popular Flowers. 

The Carnation: Its Propagation, Cultivation and General Treatment in all 

Seasons. London, 1844. 
The Pink: Its Propagation, Cultivation and General Treatment in all Seasons. 
London, 1844. 
Un Amateur. 

C'ulture et multiplication de I'CEillet. Paris (N.D.). 
Von Behr, C. A. L. 

Der Nelkenbau, dessen Schonheit und Grundform nach der Natur gemalt. Leipsic. 
(N.D.). 
Von Behr and Muenzel. 

Das Ganze der Nelkenzucht oder System der Nelke nach der Natur aufgestellt. 
Leipsic, 1810. 
Ward, Charles Willis. 

The American Carnation: How to Grow it. New York, 1903. 
Weguelin, H. W. 

Carnations and Picotees for Garden and Exhibition, with a chapter concerning 
Pinks. London, 1900. 
Weissmantel, J. N. 

Des Blumisten erster Theil in welchem die Nelke oder Grasblume, deutlich und 
voelstandig abgehandelt wird. Leipsic, 1779. 
Williams, Frederick N. 

Notes on the Pinks of Western Europe. London, 1889. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 



49 




Pink Sensation, One of the Brightest, as Well as 
One of the Best Shippers 



50 DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARNATION 

Wootten, E. J. 

The Perpetual Flowering Carnation and how to grow it indoors and outdoors. 
Winchester and London, 1914. 
Wright, Walter P. 

Pictorial Practical Carnation Growing. A Concise Guide, etc. London, 1906. 

Here we can now terminate this Carnation chronology, 
but not without expressing the hope that it will be our 
privilege and pleasure to continue the history at some 
later date. In it is outlined in sketch the garlanded trail 
of ages of the Cloveworts, but when the true, complete, 
authoritative calendar and history of all the branches of 
the Carnation family comes to be written, remember that 
it will have to comprise the full story of the old European 
Picotees, the famous flaked Carnations of Ray, Miller, 
Hogg, and later growers; the history of the superb selfs 
raised by Martin Smith and Jas. Douglas, the story like- 
wise of the Malmaisons and even of the floriferous Mar- 
guerite section, short though the latter may be. We of to- 
day seem so much in a hurry that we scarcely stop to take 
due notice of the noble flowers we have, or to paint a 
picture of them for posterity, as some of the florists of the 
50's of last century did, *' that golden period of floricul- 
ture," as Richard Dean used to call it. Our flowers and 
plants are as part of us; they are certainly divine flowers — 
God's messengers. We should prize them fully. 




CHAPTER III 



Profits on Carnations 

In a discussion of this question, as indeed of all that 
pertains to the cost of production and profit on flowering 
plants and nursery crops, one finds much difficulty in 
arriving at reliable lesults. Many growers keep no de- 
tailed record of their expenses and returns. 

Circumstances, locahties, soils, and such like have a 
material bearing on the matter. If a grower is situated 
within the radius or effects of the smoke and fumes of 
factory chimneys he is at a disadvantage compared to the 
man in a sunny situation, with a pure atmosphere. Much 
depends, also, on cost of fuel, distance from market, 
scarcity of labor, or the opposite. But the Carnation 
grower has conditions much more under his control than 
the man who grows outdoor crops. He can regulate his 
temperature, has the watering of the stock completely in 
hand, and otherwise is master of the situation. Never- 
theless, the man in Long Island, N. Y., or Washington, 
D. C, has an advantage over the man in Buffalo, Toronto, 
Toledo or Spokane, in the matter of sunshine, as can be 
proved by the records of the meteorologists. (See sun- 
shine records on page 252.) This is a far more important 
matter than has been thought in times past. 

The type of house is a matter deserving the closest 
and most careful consideration in connection with the 
successful results from Carnation growing, and in this 



52 PROFITS 

connection the reader is referred to the chapter discussing 
greenhouses. There it will be seen that the large, airy, 
light, clean and roomy modern iron house is the best, and 
the one most likely to insure successful results. Nearness 
to a supply of good fuel may make considerable difference 
on the expenditure side of the account, yet, as we know, 
florists in some of the Southern States, where the coal bill 
is not a serious item, regularly ship in a large proportion 
of their cut flowers from the Chicago growers, who, of 
course, have to depend entirely on boiler heat. The 
Southerners have still largely to wake up to their oppor- 
tunities. 

While the overhead charges vary considerably, owing 
to various economies practicable by the grower in a large 
way of business in a good location, yet in the case of the 
majority of smaller growers, especially those in the medium 
sized and smaller cities, the general run of overhead charges 
is pretty nearly alike. 

Then comes in the skill of the cultivator. It is well 
known that growers almost contiguous to one another 
often produce blooms of distinctly different quality, even 
when they are the same varieties. Skill, experience, and 
knowledge must, therefore, be put down as a very con- 
siderable factor in this question of success and profit. 

One of the most telling factors in the whole situation 
is the variety or varieties that are grown. If a plant is not 
floriferous, healthy, and otherwise of merit, space is being 
occupied unremuneratively or not as profitably as it could 
be. 

In the first place, the grower has to consider the 
proportion of plants in any given color, that are to be grown. 
From an analysis of various letters sent to the leading 
growers throughout the country it was found on a balance 



PROFITS 53 

of opinion that the majority favored planting in the follow- 
ing proportions: 

White Carnations 36% 

Light Pink 35% 

Dark Pink 17% 

Scarlet 12% 

This is a valuable index to the beginner in commercial 
Carnation cultivation. Possibly it would be wiser, in view 
of the increasing demand for white Carnations for Mother's 
Day each year (second Sunday in May), to plant more of 
these. 

At the same time, so close has been the study of the 
characteristics of varieties by some growers, that they 
have eliminated all but one or two at the most. These 
they specialize in, and grow them better than any other 
competitor can. 

The least profitable limit at which a Carnation plant 
can be grown varies according to the quality and character 
of the blooms, but sixteen flowers per plant is a good middle 
figure, and indeed the consensus of opinions collected by 
us showed that iSJ^ blooms per plant is frequently expected, 
and to be lucrative the wholesale selling price should be 
33^c. per bloom. Unfortunately, half this price has fre- 
quently to be accepted nowadays; but, on the whole, the 
yearly average runs at 2c. per bloom at wholesale. Some 
growers dispose of their blooms the year round at a level 
contract price arranged on this basis. In addition, there 
is the sale (if any) of cuttings or plants to be taken into 
the reckoning as well as the cut blooms, and of any other 
stock or side or catch crop that may be grown. The 
standard price of cuttings of novelties is $12 per 100, $100 
per 1000; while •:he price of other varieties varies according 
to how recently they may have been introduced to com- 
merce. In the Spring of 191 5 the prices for Champion, 



54 PROFITS 

Matchless and Princess Dagmar were $6, per lOO, $50 per 

1000; for Pink Delight and Yellow Prince, $5 per 100; 

while for all the standard varieties the ruling market price 

for cuttings was $3 per 100. 

In a paper read at the Cleveland meeting of the 

American Carnation Society in 1914, Joseph H. Hill of the 

E. G. Hill Co., Richmond, Ind., submitted data showing 

the following yield of blooms per plant from July, 19 12, to 

July, 1913: 

Beacon 14.2 perfect; 2.4 split, but salable. 

Benora 10.5 " and a wealth of cuttings. 

Enchantress 14.6 " 2.8 split, but salable. 

Gloriosa 13.2 " Can be planted closer than 

heavier growing varieties. 
Mrs. C. W. Ward 12.3 " 1.2 split; fetches top prices when 

well grown. 
Pink Delight 13. " Can be planted closer than 

heavier growing varieties. 

Rosette 14. " 

White Perfection 13. " 

White Wonder 16.6 " i.i split, but salable. 

The average yield of these and other varieties tested 
by Mr. Hill was a fraction under fifteen flowers per plant, 
plus an average of two cuttings per plant. Each plant 
occupied an average of J^ sq. ft. of the entire surface 
covered by glass. 

The cost of production per plant was estimated as 

follows : 

Value of plant at benching 6c. 

Proportionate cost of fuel in Winter 2C. 

Labor loc. 

Interest on investment 3c. 

Proportionate charge for soil, fertilizers, shipping 2c. 

23c. 

Thus, every plant must earn rather over 23 cents be- 
fore any profit materializes to the grower. At 15 blooms 
per plant, and these selling at an average of 2c. each, this 



PROFITS 



55 



would show yc. profit. According to the quotations on the 
Chicago market this price is well maintained on the average 
of the year, but the yearly average at New York is only 
some $1.55 per hundred blooms, so that an average of 18 
blooms per plant would be necessary in order to realize 
even a very moderate income from an estabhshment of 
20,000 sq. ft., or else the cost of production would have to 
be lowered. This assumes, of course, that Carnations alone 
are grown, though there is always the probability of adding 
a few small side lines or of getting in a rush crop between 
the end of May and August. Such crop may be of Asters, 
Tomatoes, Mignonette or small Ferns. 

If we take the quotations on the New York market, 
where pi ices are low rather than high, over the Winter and 
Spring period, from November to May, inclusive, a better 
showing is made, the average prices for all grades being 
$1.95 per 100, which is approximately the 2c. rate and 
should show a net profit of from $1200 to $1400 on 20,000 
plants for the period. The average wholesale prices in 
19 14 in Chicago and New York per 100 blooms were as 
follows : 

CARNATIONS 



January.. . 
February,. 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August. . . 
September 
October. . . 
November. 
December. 



Standard 


Chicago 


New York 


$1.75-2.50 


$2.00-2.65 


1.65-2.36 


1-35-2-35 


1. 00- 1. 50 


1.15-1.65 


2.00-2.50 


1. 20-1. 90 


2.00-3.00 


.75-1.00 


.85-1.25 


-3 5- .70 


1. 00-1.50 


.50- .87 


.75-1.00 


•55- -95 


.75-1-10 


.75-1-30 


.85-1.25 


.85-1.00 


1.25-2.25 


1. 20- 1. 6 5 


1.50-2.00 


1. 00- 1. 50 



Fancy 


Chicago 


New York 


$3.30-4.25 
3.00-4.00 
2.00-3.00 


$2.75-3.75 
2.35-3-50 
1.85-2.50 


3.50-4.00 
4.00-5.00 


1.90-2.65 
1.65-2.00 


1.65-2.85 
2.00 


.70-1.15 
1. 00- 1. 50 


1.50-2.00 


1. 00- 1. 50 


1.50 

1. 00- 1. 6 5 


1. 00- 1. 6 5 


2.40-3.35 
3.00 


1.65-2.35 
1.50-2.00 



S6 PROFITS 

A range of six houses, 30 ft. x 100 ft., will house 20,000 
plants in benches, allowing % sq. ft. per plant, and two men 
will take care of this number successfully. On a cost basis 
of 23c. per plant to cover all costs — labor, fuel, interest on 
investment, value of plant, freight charges, etc. — the grand 
total of cost is $4600, and at a minimum average of receipts 
of 30C. per sq. ft. of glass, we get the sum of $6345 to offset 
this, the difference to the good being Si 745. The pro- 
prietor who does not recoup himself to this extent had 
better try some other business, or hand over the manage- 
ment to someone more capable than Iiimself. 

A successful and careful grower for the Boston market 
says he finds that if he can cut fifteen blooms per plant, 
planted 9 in. x 8 in., or 10 in. x 8 in., from October i to May 
31, he is satisfied, and returns from these in that market 
are about $1200 per 2000 ft. of bench space; that is, 6oc. 
per ft., gross sales. As the New York market is lower than 
the Boston market tlie gross income in the case of a New 
York grower would probably average about 50c. per sq. ft. 
of bench space, which would afford a reasonable income. 

These figures may appear sufficiently satisfactory, 
and on the face of them they are, but when one considers 
the risks a grower runs of losses by storms, diseases in his 
plants, bad markets owing to climatic changes at a critical 
period, and when we consider how prices have declined in 
recent times owing to over production and competition, 
a man must think long and carefully before entering the 
ranks of commercial Carnation growers in these days. He 
should have good business ability and be otherwise well 
fortified. Then he may succeed. 



CHAPTER IV 



Packing, Shipping and Business Matters 

There is room for a better understanding between the 
wholesale florists and the growers on the matter of the 
sale of blooms. A speaker at a recent floricultural meeting 
well expressed the situation when he said: " It is un- 
fortunate that there is so much distrust still lingering 
between these branches of our business. There should be 
more co-operation and we must remember that we are all 
mutually dependent on one another. If the retailer thinks 
he is being robbed when asked $8 or $io a hundred for 
Carnations at Christmas, let him remember the grower 
probably thinks the same thing when he sees the consumer 
paying 75c. a dozen, and he is receiving $1.50 or $2 a hun- 
dred. Moreover, the retailer can place the responsibility 
for the high prices on the grower, while the latter has no 
one to come back at." 

In regard to the demand for, and sale of, flowers the 
same speaker remarked that " during the past few years 
we have heard many complaints that Carnations have been 
giving poor satisfaction, and many retail stores have ceased 
to push them at all. We cannot blame the retailer if he 
does not feel kindly toward the Carnation if he finds his 
stock, that was apparently fresh when he bought it, un- 
salable at the end of 24 hours. Nor is the customer who 
purchases them, and finds them asleep the next morning, 
likely to go back for more for some time." 



58 PACKING, SHIPPING AND BUSINESS MATTERS 

Remedies have been widely suggested. It is often 
hinted that the flowers are left to open too fully before 
being cut. " The longer they stay on the plants the 
shorter will be their life on the purchaser's table." Flowers 
that are cut when two-thirds open keep better and give 
greater satisfaction. Old or pickled stock will be of no 
value in a living room with its dry atmosphere at a tem- 
perature of between 70 deg. and 80 deg. Careful grading 
of stock helps to make it more attractive for sale, and it 
is felt by many growers that more direct transactions 
between themselves and the retailers should be the rule. 
Better methods for caring for surpluses are urgently needed. 
Jumping stock from 50c. and 75c. per dozen to $1 or $1.20 
looks to the buyers like a skinning game, and is a practice 
that many growers would like to see checked. 

Back in 1892, at the American Carnation Society's 
annual meeting, C. W. Ward expressed himself in regard to 
handling cut flower stock, and on general business methods, 
in very decided terms as follows: 

" The first business maxim should be honesty and fair 
dealing; the second, to conduct our business so that it 
should be successful and profitable. While there are no 
set rules nor rigid lines upon which business can be con- 
ducted, there are certain general principles which may be 
universally applied. You should not undertake to do more 
business than you can properly oversee and care for your- 
self, nor should you sell your wares below cost of produc- 
tion; neither should you make prices upon an article 
without ascertaining what it costs to produce it. You 
should never engage in an injudicious cutting of prices 
below market values in the hope of increasing your business 
or getting an undue advantage over your neighbor. The 
most foolish thing a grower or dealer can do is to attempt 



PACKING, SHIPPING AND BUSINESS MATTERS S9 




Gorgeous, Dark Pink, with 4 ft. Stems. Fine for 

Spring 



6o PACKING, SHIPPING AND BUSINESS MATTERS 

to run out his competitor by selling goods below cost. 
This, with the improper extension of credits, has ruined 
more business houses than any other cause. 

'* Treat your customers fairly and liberally. When 
shipping your customers an invoice of flowers or plants, 
imagine yourself in his place and what you would think if 
you should receive the same at the same price you are 
receiving for them and packed in the same manner as you 
are packing them. By keeping this in mind, and treating 
them as you would wish to be treated, you will retain your 
trade as well as the goodwill of your customers. The best 
way to retain your customers' goodwill is always to send 
first-class goods so packed that they will arrive in fine 
condition. 

" Aim to produce a high grade article and sell it at a 
fair price and a fair profit. Remember that in growing 
plants and flowers there is always plenty of room at the top, 
while the lower ranks are always crowded. In growing 
cut flowers for market, aim to send fine, long-stemmed 
blooms neatly bunched, with some foliage in the bunch. 
In bunching, tie the stems close to the butts so that the 
flowers will fall gracefully apart when the bunch is held 
up. In packing flowers, wrap the butts of the stems in 
damp sphagnum moss and wind soft paper around the 
moss, packing the bunches upon soft paper cushions so 
that the flowers may not bruise. Use clean, neat boxes 
to pack in. The neater your flowers open out on the 
market the quicker they will sell, and if your flowers open 
up uniformly fresh and in attractive shape you will make a 
reputation for superior stock and eventually get the highest 
market prices. Try to send a fair quantity of first class 
stock upon the market every day. Do not suddenly flood 
your commission man with a large quantity of perishable 



PACKING, SHIPPING AND BUSINESS MATTERS 6l 




Box OF Rooted Carnation Cuttings Very Carefully 

Packed 

The roots are bound in damp moss, rolled in wax paper, fastened 
with elastic bands, and have more wax paper (shown rolled back) all 
over and around them. 



62 PACKING, SHIPPING AND BUSINESS MATTERS 

flowers and then blame him because he does not sell all at 
high market quotations. Do not disappoint your cus- 
tomers; convince them that they can rely upon you and 
that you rely upon them. 

" Treat your commission man fairly. Do not censure 
him unless you are sure he deserves it. Give him credit 
for the good he does as well as for the bad you think he 
does. By so doing you will gain his respect and goodwill 
if he is honest, and you should deal only with such as are 
honest. In selecting your commission man watch his 
habits carefully. If he is economical and careful about 
his living and business expenses you can feel reasonably 
safe in dealing with him; but if he is reckless and extrava- 
gant in his expenses, keeps fast company, gambles and 
follows the betting fraternity, be very careful in your 
dealings with him, as sooner or later these elements are 
sure to ruin him, and you will eventually lose thereby." 



The manner of handling cut blooms, as adopted by 
most of the larger growers is as follows:* 

The cutting of the flowers must be attended to with 
considerable judgment as regards the weather. If the 
weather is very cold the flower should be allowed to open a 
little more than usual, as if cut too close in very cold 
weather they soon go to sleep. Again, if there is a warm 
wave, with lots of moisture in the atmosphere, the flowers 
will be soft, and must be cut pretty close; also, during these 
warm spells the flowers should be kept in a little cooler 
temperature than usual to make the blooms as firm as 
possible. After the flowers are cut and tied in bunches of 
twenty-five each, they should be placed in water as soon as 
possible. This is best accomplished by having pails of 

*.C. L. Washburn, before Amer. Carnation Soc. at Chicago. 1905. 



PACKING, SHIPPING AND BUSINESS MATTERS 63 

fresh water standing handy to the benches, so that as 
soon as a bunch is tied up it can be placed in the water at 
once. This is very necessary, as it helps prolong the 
life of the flower. If the blooms are left out of water until 
the cutting is all finished, a number of them wiU have 
wilted a little and the sap in the stem haidened up to such 
an extent that the flower will not suck up water freely. 

After the cutting and bunching are finished the flowers 
should be placed in water in a closet or room where the 
temperature remains steady at about ^^ deg., and where 
no drafts of air will strike them. When packing to send 
them to the commission man or wholesale store, use a few 
sheets of newspaper between each layer of bunches and 
keep the ends of the stems from touching any of the flowers. 
Two layers of bunches are enough to put in any package, 
as too many heads get broken when packed in too solid. 
The wholesale or commission house should put the flowers 
in water as soon as received. 

Now for short distances: Where the flowers can be 
shipped on trains that will arrive early enough for the 
flowers to be delivered that same day, the stock sent is 
usually that cut the night before; but for flowers that 
will have to remain packed in the boxes over night and 
for all long-distance shipments, the stock taken is always 
cut in the morning, and after standing in water for three 
to six hours, is sent into the market and shipped away 
the same day. The old idea that a Carnation keeps best 
if allowed to stand in water eighteen to twenty-four hours 
before sending into market has been disproved by actual 
experience, and of the Carnation blooms received by the 
wholesale growers at least two-thirds the stock is cut in 
the morning and shipped in to their wholesale stores in 
the early afternoon to send away the same day. These 



64 



PACKING, SHIPPING AND BUSINESS MATTERS 



flowers will arrive in better shape and last longer every 
time than if cut the day before. After Carnations have 
been kept eighteen or twenty hours in water they seem to 
get kind of soggy and do not ship well. 








\ 



i^M%^' ^^^i^^ 




Blooms of Highest Quality Packed with the Utmost Care, as 
Described in the Text 

The boxes used for shipping Carnations are made of 
thin wood, 3^ in. ends and }4 ^^' tops, bottoms and sides, 
with two 3/2 iri- cleats to fasten the stems down and hold 
the ice securely. These boxes are*]UsuaUy I2 in. wide 
and 4 in. to 8 in. deep, and 36 in. to 46 in. long. The boxes 



PACKING, SHIPPING AND BUSINESS MATTERS 6^ 

may appear too long at first, but they are better too long 
than too short. Line the boxes first with four to eight 
thicknesses of newspapers, depending on the weather. 
Then a single thickness of soft wax paper all around. 
Commence and put in a row of Carnations, usually about 
six flowers to a row, and between each row of heads place a 
strip of wax paper about 3 in. wide and as long as the box 
is wide; about five rows of flowers in each end will constitute 
a layer, and between each layer place a sheet of wax paper 
the width of the box and long enough to cover all the 
heads in that layer; keep on until the box is completed. 

It will be found that with the extra long stems now 
being grown four or five rows in each end of the box 
will be all that can be put in a layer, as by that time the 
stems will be within 6 in. of the opposite row of flower 
heads. The number of layers of flowers should not go over 
four or six, which will allow from 200 to 300 Carnations 
in one box. In the center of the box where the stems meet 
there should be placed at least eight or ten thicknesses of 
well saturated newspapers. These newspapers should be 
kept in a pail of water so that they will have had absorbed 
all the water they possibly can before being placed on the 
stems. After putting this wet paper on the stems, place 
the two cleats on and fasten them down securely with 
nails. Be careful in placing the cleats to put them only 
on the double rows of stems and not beyond, and also see 
there is plenty of wet newspapers under them, so there 
will be no danger of breaking the stems by pushing the 
cleats too far down. 

The subject of icing a box is a debatable point, but for 
long-distance shipments our experience is that a small 
piece of ice well wrapped with newspapers helps to preserve 
the flowers from heat; and also keeps the newspapers over 



66 PACKING, SHIPPING AND BUSINESS MATTERS 

the stems moist. For varieties that have brittle stems, 
care must be taken not to fasten the cleats down too tight, 
or too near the neck of the flower, or the stems will be 
broken in handling the package. It is also well to put a 
few sheets of tissue paper well crumpled up between the 
cleats and the flower heads. This will absorb any damp, 
cold air from the ice and will also serve as a cushion to 
protect the lowers from shaking up and down in the box 
by rough handling. 

In order to dispose of our product to advantage, it is 
absolutely necessary to continue to improve our methods 
of handling Carnations intended for shipment. They 
must be grown stronger, more air given and greater care 
taken in feeding. The efl'ect of the warm Spring rains must 
be overcome in some w^ay, as during such periods it is 
almost impossible to ship Carnations any distance and not 
have them arrive fast asleep. 

All the little details of cutting, placing in water and 
shipping should be attended to w^ith the greatest fidelity, 
and as we improve our methods of handling and our varieties 
of stock, so shall we increase our volume of business. The 
advisability of devoting a certain amount of glass to grow- 
ing plants for Spring and early Summer blooming is a 
point that should be considered. There are some varieties 
that are at their best during these periods, and there is no 
doubt that Carnations always ship best when in full crop. 
If the creators of new varieties would give more attention 
to the shipping qualities of their new flowers instead of 
trying to increase the size so much, they would be working 
along lines that are susceptible of considerable improve- 
ment. No matter how large a flow^er, or how fragrant or 
brilliantly colored it is, if it will not ship well it cannot be 
grown extensively. 



PACKING, SHIPPING AND BUSINESS MATTERS 67 




Rosette, Good in Midwinter; a Steady Bloomer 



CHAPTER V 



General Cultural Calendar 

January. — The greater part of the cuttings are taken 
this month, which is generally considered the best time. 
In regard to the flowering plants, apply light dressings of 
sheep manure, or give tankage in a weak form at monthly 
intervals. Keep the plants well supported and disbudded, 
and do not omit spraying regularly each week. 

February. — The cuttings now rooted may be lifted 
from the sand and potted up, or may be placed in the 
benches. Continue putting in later cuttings. Syringe 
the flowering plants with salt water as an antidote to red 
spider, and take every opportunity of ventilating the 
houses. Marguerite and other annual Carnations may be 
sown. 

March. — -The propagating of cuttings may still be 
continued, but ought to finish up before the end of the 
month. Shift on any young stock that may require it. 
Continue to spray the flowering stock a little oftener, 
and give air freely whenever the weather is mild 
and bright. Seed of perpetual Carnations may be sown 
now. 

April. — A thin mulch may be given over the benches 
of the flowering plants, and do not neglect to water them 
welL The light colored flowers, particularly pinks, are 
benefited by a light shading over the glass. The larger 



GENERAL CULTURAL CALENDAR 69 

of the young plants may be planted in the field this month, 
usually after the 15th. 

May. — Finish planting out of doors as early as possible, 
and keep up the cultivation and hoeing of the soil between 
the rows. Continue disbudding indoor stock for flowering 

June. — The worn-out crops may be thrown out this 
month, while those for flowering may continue to be 
shaded. Keep up the cultivation of the soil in the field, 
and pinch the shoots of those plants that begin to run up. 
Less water may be given to the plants in the field so as to 
firm them up for the benching time. 

July. — By the end of the month benching will be in 
progress, therefore do all possible to develop sturdy stock. 
At the same time do not allow the plants to get hard and 
wiry. Cultivate the soil, and keep all clean, healthy and 
steadily growing. Houses and benches must be thoroughly 
cleaned and in readiness. Sow Grenadin varieties. Layer 
Border varieties and Malmaisons. 

August. — Early in this month the benching must be 
concluded, according to directions given elsewhere. Keep 
the surface of the soil stirred between the plants after 
planting, and top back the leading shoots, if early blooms 
are not wanted. Pot up layers and seedlings. 

September. — Spray regularly, and keep disbudding. 
See that the supports are placed in position in good time. 

October.- — The plants are growing fast, and sending 
up flower stems, therefore require extra supports all the 
time. Spray regularly, and continue free ventilation, 
leaving a little on even on cool nights. Firing will now be 
necessary occasionally. Aff'ord a light mulch of sheep 
manure over the soil. An occasional light dusting of lime 



70 PROPAGATION 

is beneficial at this time, or whenever the plants seem to 
require stiffening up. 

November. — Continue spraying. Be careful with 
the ventilating. Keep the soil surface scratched. Dis- 
bud where necessary, and attend to the staking. The 
field for the Summer crop may be plowed now, and cross 
breeding may be undertaken if that is practised. Some of 
the slow growing varieties may be propagated by cuttings. 

December. — Other cuttings may be taken this month, 
and the work as outhned in the last month continued 
carefully. 

Routine of Cultivation 
propagation 

The old method of propagating by layering is not 
practised in this country. The first thing is to choose 
cuttings from good, sound, healthy plants. A little bottom 
heat, while not necessary, is still desirable, as it hastens 
the rooting and avoids loss from disease or decay. 

A b/Cnch situated at the back of any J^ span roofed 
greenhouse, facing north, is excellent. The benches for 
the cuttings should be 4 in. to 6 in. deep, and ought to be 
thoroughly clean before being filled. A good coat of lime- 
wash is advisable, and for drainage over the bottom a little 
clean straw or sphagnum moss can be laid over the seams 
or holes. Use clean, sharp sand, neither too fine nor too 
coarse; very fine sand packs too close, while coarse sand 
doesn't pack sufficiently. Pound this well with a brick 
to make it firm, then the bench is ready to receive the 
cuttings. 

As to which type of cutting is best is an open question. 



PROPAGATION 7I 

Many prefer cuttings from the flowering stem, as these 
make better plants than cuttings from the tip. The best 
are taken neither too high nor too low on the flowering 
stem. A short flowering shoot is ideaL A cutting that is 
stretched too much, or long and sappy, is poor, also one 
very low down on the stem, which very frequently is too 
hardy or woody to root freely or well. Many large growers, 
however, rely upon cut back plants to yield cuttings, as 
they cannot get sufficient in any other way. 

Five to ten cuttings may be taken from one plant, 
but always leave a few growths at the base for the next 
crop of flowers. All trimming that is to be done should be 
with a good, sharp knife. When necessary to cut the bot- 
tom of the cutting, do so just below a joint, and do it 
clean. Cuttings may be taken any time from December 
to March, and will root in three to four weeks. Good 
cuttings should not be more than 33^ in. long and 3 in. 
woukl even be better. Place them in the sand Y2 in. to i in. 
apart in rows, i3^ in. deep and 2 in. between the rows, 
each variety being labeled to avoid danger of mixing. 

When putting the cuttings in the sand, use a lath as 
a guide for the rows; lay the lath on the sand, hokl in 
position with the left hand, and with a piece of good hard 
wood, shaped like a knife, draw a furrow across the bench 
in which you lay your cutting with the left hand, pressing 
it firm with the forefinger of the right, and so on until the 
row is finished. If the sand is pressed firm at the top of 
the cuttings and not at the bottom, they will be sure to 
faiL 

There are a few things to remember in the management 
of the cutting bench, as the temperature, moisture, shading 
and airing. The cuttings will root nicely in a house with 
a temperature of 50 to ^^ deg. Always keep the sand 



72 



PROPAGATION 



damp, but not soggy. Syringe the cuttings overhead as 
often as the weather permits. If the sun strikes the house, 
shield the bench either by using old newspapers laid over 




Types of Cuttings 

1, best type; 2, cutting with hard base, difficult to root; 3, cutting too extended; 4, cut- 
ting taken too far up the stem; 5, spindly cutting with hard heel. 



the cuttings, or by hanging cloth above them, the latter 
being perhaps better, as it gives the cuttings the full 
benefit of the air. Give Nature a chance to heal up the 



PROPAGATION 



73 



wound and form roots, whether you have a lo ft. propagat- 
ing bench and use paper, cheese cloth, muslin or frames of 
whitewashed glass, or the latest design of an especially 




Types of Cuttings 

1, rooted cutting, once stopped, ready for the field; 2, an ideal cutting trimmed roadj' 
for the sand; 3, poor cutting with hard heel: 4, cutting rooted after three weeks 

in the sand 

constructed house for propagating purposes. The growth 
on all of the stock plants we make use of for propagating 
purposes in March is far softer then than it was two months 



74 PROPAGATION 

before, therefore Carnation cuttings then are more subject to 
suffer if exposed to full sunlight. Whether you can root 
them without shading or not, the proper way is to apply 
shade, and if possible arrange it so that this shade can be 
removed partly or entirely on dark or cloudy days. The 
sooner all shade is removed when you notice actual root 
growth the better, for a rooting cutting of any plant re- 
quiring full sunlight will go back if allowed to remain in a 
shady position. 

THE MAIN PROPAGATING 

Only by everlastingly keeping up the selection of the 
very best material for cuttings can we expect to prevent 
our stock of Carnations, or for that matter any other 
plants, from running down. No matter how short you 
may be of a certain sort, never take a cutting from a diseased 
plant or one that does not just look the way it ought to. 
Let the sand the cuttings go into be fresh and clean, and 
the bench itself should be in a clean condition, as well as 
the house. Never was there a Carnation plant grown for 
any length of time successfully in a dirty house. 

While one can even root Carnation cuttings up to 
April, the great majority of growers prefer January and 
February as the months to root their main batch. At 
this time excellent small side shoots of the flowering wood 
can be had which really do not need to come in contact 
with a knife in order to get them ready for the sand, and 
with just a little bottom heat over 95 per cent, will root. 
Toward the end of January the little plants are ready for 
23^-in. pots. If the young stock is at all taken care of 
another shift will be necessary by the end of March into 
3-in. or 33/^-in. These early propagated plants are ideal 



PROPAGATION 75 

for benching in early May, or might be shifted into 4-in. 
in April and benched right after Memorial Day. For those 
with a light, sandy soil in the field, this stock, if intended 
for field culture, would grow into^too large specimens, but 
for a heavy loam hardly ever do the plants become too 
large for housing, no matter how early propagated. 

The florist who does not set aside stock plants for 
propagating purposes has to depend entirely on the side 
shoots of the flower stems for his cuttings, and if any 
quantity of them is to be taken, it is well to start early 
in order to get them. The sooner after the New Year we 
get busy with rooting Carnations the easier the rooting, 
the better the chances for a good sized plant next July, 
and the more likely we are to get enough worked up. Start 
now, as you cut the finest long stemmed flowers of your 
new sorts, save the cuttings and put them into sand. 

CUT-BACK PLANTS 

If you are short of a certain sort, and you wish to 
work up a large stock from it for another season, do as 
the specialist does, and cut back the flowering stems and 
thereby encourage the plants to give you side shoots, which 
make the ideal cuttings. Quite a few of the Carnations 
grown after the middle of January, if allowed to flower, 
will furnish but little material in the way of cuttings. 
The plants send up their flowering stems, but very few 
side growths on them. Up to the middle of December we 
usually can get plenty of cuttings from the plants that 
were housed from the field in July and August. Don't 
expect too much from your stock in the way of flowers and 
cuttings. Of those sorts you have a large stock of, you 
may not have any trouble in getting all the cuttings you 



76 



PROPAGATION 




TREATMENT OF ROOTED CUTTINGS 77 

want, but of the newer sorts, where the stock is limited, 
it might pay better to sacrifice a few flowers and get the 
plants to furnish you the required cuttings for a large 
stock for next year. This you can accomplish by cutting 
back the flowering stems. 

CUTTINGS THAT ARE ROOTED 

There is only one thing to do with rooted Carnation 
cuttings in the sand — get them out and pot them up into 
clean, sweet soil, or into flats. Some growers even put the 
plants in benches at once and keep them there until they 
are planted out. Generally this will be at the end of 
January or early in February, and from then on until the 
middle of March. It is better for the young plants to 
get into fresh sweet soil, with but little or no manure, 
than into the richest kind of soil that is not sweet. Grow 
your small stock in a cool house, let the plants form a 
nice lot of healthy roots and avoid a soft growth; by so 
doing you lay the foundation for a healthy plant and a 
good constitution. The Carnation is a cold house plant, 
indeed almost hardy, no matter to how much heat we may 
see fit to expose it. If you are anxious to keep your 
stock healthy, do not pot up a cutting which does not 
look the way it should; any doubtful one will never amount 
to anything and it isn't worth running chances with. Make 
use of a nice, sunny bench for the young stock, and the 
best ventilated house, and if for any reason you cannot 
maintain a higher temperature than 45 or 46 deg. during 
the real cold nights, that is far better than to make it a 
practice to keep the stock at 53 deg. 

Avoid allowing the rooted cuttings to make an inch 
or two of growth before they are removed from the sand. 



78 BUYING YOUNG STOCK 

As soon as they are rooted they should be potted up, for 
they have ceased to be cuttings; they are plants, and 
more than sand is necessary to supply the growth. There 
are many retail growers who feel perfectly contented as 
long as they know the cuttings are rooted, and they are 
left to remain in the sand for weeks after that, which 
usually means stunted plants at a standstill after being 
potted, or weak and full of disease. If you purchase rooted 
cuttings, and they are in a healthy state but only partly 
rooted, it is far better than spindly stock with long " whis- 
kers," indicating they have made much of their growth in 
the propagating bench. 

BUYING YOUNG STOCK 

To those who are still short of Carnation cuttings 
at the third week in February or ending that month, we 
would suggest not to lose any time in purchasing some. 
Every firm making a specialty of rooted cuttings and ify^-in. 
stock has a good supply on hand by that date, ready for 
shipping, and nothing is gained by waiting longer to order 
them. Nicely rooted cuttings ship well almost any distance 
if properly packed (see illustration p. 6i), and if potted will 
make the best of stock by the time they are to go into the 
field. A Carnation, like anything else, is best when allowed 
to come along without the least check. The plants in 
23^-in. pots on February 20 and intended for outdoor 
culture during the Summer should have a shift into 33^-ins. 
This, and pinching the top out, will give the foundation 
for bushy plants later on. These plants, if wanted for 
benching right after Memorial Day (May 30), can go into 
a coldframe for six weeks or so previous to their being 
planted out. This will give the man with limited space 



PLANTING OUT 79 

and depending on bedding stock a chance to get extra 
bench room. 

PLANTING IN THE FIELD 

In the Spring, at the approach of planting time, plow 
the land, giving a liberal dressing of pure ground bone, 
thoroughly worked in with a revolving disc harrow, after 
which put on the finishing touches with the leveling harrow 
and drag, and you are ready to plant. This occurs as soon 
as all danger of frost is over, which may be as early as 
April 10 in the latitude of Raleigh, N. C, or May 5 or 6 
in the latitude of New York. Early planting is advan- 
tageous. 

Two methods present themselves: 

In the first case, planting in rows about ^Yi ft. apart 
and 8 in. or 10 in. in the row; second, planting in beds of 
from 8 to 12 rows each, the plants being 14 in. apart each 
way. Both systems have their advocates. Those planting 
in wide rows claim a considerable saving in labor, as the 
cultivation is by horse or motor power. In spite of this, 
many prefer the bed system, first, on account of the value 
of the soil as prepared for planting. Soil that is properly 
treated is too valuable for one-half of it to be used simply 
for a horse to walk back and forth upon. Secondly, it may 
be possible to get a good supply of boys just at the right 
age to run the hand cultivators; thirdly, a crop of some- 
thing which might be grown on the other half of the piece 
will doubtless more than pay for the extra labor required. 
About 22,000 plants to the acre is the average. In remov- 
ing the plants from the flats cut them out in squares. 
Place the roots just deep enough to be covered nicely, only 
slightly deeper than they were in the flats, and press firmly; 
this constitutes proper planting. Deep planting is the in- 



8o 



PLANTING IN THE FIELD 




SUMMER WORK 8 I 

cubator of stem rot. The fact that the Carnation makes a 
great many surface roots is abundant evidence that they 
require a certain amount of air, and possibly hght. 

Pinching should be attended to regularly. Work the 
surface soil with the hoe to keep weeds in check and the 
soil aerated. Unless watering can be done thoroughly and 
be maintained, it should never be commenced, for when 
dry, the plants will draw themselves all out of shape. 

FIELD STOCK AND OLD PLANTS IN JULY 

Cultivating is what the plants want in the held. A 
rainy season may give you the largest plants by Fall, but 
the ideal stock consists of medium sized ones such as have 
developed during a rather dry Summer, and where a high 
state of cultivation has been kept up while the plants were 
in the field. Such stock, when housed and properly at- 
tended to afterward, will make the finest of specimen 
plants. Avoid, if you can, a soft growth, such as you would 
obtain by keeping the soil around the plants soaked at all 
times. By so doing you are laying the foundation for 
stem-rot and other diseases. Don't mind because it 
doesn't rain for two or three weeks; run through the rows 
with the wheel cultivator and keep the soil stirred. By 
examining you will find that a few inches below the surface 
there is moisture, and the little roots are by this time down 
into it, and the more you keep a loose mulch of soil on top 
the cooler it will be for the roots below. You will get a 
short jointed stocky plant, and there is none better than 
such a one for housing in August. At the same time, m 
the very dry sections or seasons, irrigation in watering is 
often a necessity, else hard-stemmed plants will result, 
and these never grow freely. 



82 SUMMER WORK 



FINISHING UP IN THE FIELD 



A grower can easily tell whether tlie plants are going 
to be what he wants them to be, or whether they are going 
to be a failure. Plants which have for some reason or 
another been stunted in their growth hardly ever make up 
or amount to anything w^orth while, and we w^ould far 
rather buy every bit of the stock needed to fill the benches 
than house a lot of doubtful plants, expecting them to make 
up later on. A sickly or stunted plant after being housed 
may come out all right in time, but what is gained by it 
if you have to wait months before that happens ? Is it 
not a better way to purchase healthy plants full of life, 
such as will be flowering in a few weeks ? There is no use 
planting any other, for they don't pay. While the plants 
are in the lield, intended for housing, do not let them 
send up flower shoots. Keep them pinched back, and 
keep on cultivating and weeding. Do not work under the 
impression that because the plants are large enough to be 
called fine for benching, they do not need to be taken care of. 
The soil between them should be kept worked up at all 
times, for if you do not do that, while you may not notice 
any great change in the appearance of the plants, they 
suffer just the same; the wood becomes hard, the lower 
leaves turn yellow, and their growth will soon be arrested. 

GETTING READY FOR HOUSING 

Whether you place the plants under glass in the last 
two weeks of July or the early part of August does not 
matter nearly as much as with w^hat little check you can 
do it. While there are but few plants that can stand ship- 
ping better than Carnations after being lifted from the 
field, the man who has the plants on his own field has the 



SUMMER WORK 



83 




84 SUMMER WORK 

advantage over those who have not. A few cloudy or cool 
days while the plants are being transferred from the field 
to the bench is of great benefit and helps in getting them 
re-estabhshed; it beats heavy shading and keeping the 
stock soaked and sprayed in every way. Stock carefully 
packed can travel easily one thousand miles and over. As 
long as it is properly handled afterw^ard, the plants w^ill 
go right ahead. All this implies that one must be ready 
for it. The man who, about the 30th of July, looks over 
half rotted out benches full of old Carnation soil, and 
begins to think about cleaning up a bit and getting slowly 
ready for refilling them, and afterward looks around for 
stock — such a one starts out wrong. Get the benches all 
ready filled, and be in shape for planting when the right 
kind of planting weather arrives, then put on every hand 
and get the work done well and quickly. 

LIFTING THE PLANTS 

The first necessity is to have a convenient number 
of crates 18 in. wide and 3 ft. to 4 ft. long, prepared. Some 
careful cultivators exercise much care by covering the 
bottoms with one or two inches of wet moss to keep the 
roots moist until planted in. Two men with spades dig 
on both sides of the plants simultaneously and lift. A 
third shakes off the soil, inserts the roots in a bucket of 
water and places them in the crates with roots standing on 
the moss. When the plants are lifted from the crates the 
roots are shaken out so they will spread, and a man on 
either side of the bench does the planting by making a 
hole with the hand or trowel, spreading the roots out 
evenly, bringing the loose soil around the roots, shaking 
the plant up and down gently to distribute the soil particles 



THE SOIL 85 

among the roots and then firmly pressing in, leaving a 
shallow depression around the plant to receive the first few 
waterings. The plants should not under any circumstances 
be set lower in the bench than they were in the field. This 
will save many a loss from stem-rot. Care should also be 
taken to have the smallest plants on the south side of the 
bench and the largest in the center or north of the center 
of the bench. By Winter you will be able to distinguish 
but little difference in the size of the plants. 

THE SOIL 

The matter of soil and soil supply is one of the 
most important. We shall therefore deal with it some- 
what fully. 

In speaking of ideal Carnation soil we mean the state 
and nature the soil should be in when the plants are benched. 
The best results we ever had were with soil we got out of a 
lot of heavy sod piled up three months before we filled the 
benches. This sod was taken from a pasture the last 
week in March, a good spade deep. It was piled up and 
by the end of June it was worked over with a plow and 
pulverizer, and later, just before it went to the benches, 
was worked over with spading forks and about one-sixth 
of well decomposed stable manure was worked into the 
soil. The rough pieces of sod were thrown on one pile 
and later made use of for covering the bottom of the benches 
instead of straw manure. You cannot get any better 
material, no matter what else you may use. Always bear 
in mind that Carnations lifted from the field do not want 
to be planted in a soil with much fertilizer nor one full of 
manure. The plants are not in shape to take up a lot of 
food; they have to get re-established first, and make new 



86 THE SOIL 

root growth to support the top, for you have to take away 
a lot of roots on lifting the plants. Manure in the soil of a 
bench that the plants cannot make use of will sour the soil 
in a short time. Why, then, put in that which is not 
necessary? Get your plants re-established first, and then 
start to feed. You have all Winter to do this in, so avoid 
it during the hot months yet to come. The plants are 
better off in soil which is sweet and fibrous and contains 
but very little manure. 

** making" a soil 

In order to get pasture sod or turf, it is frequently 
necessary to expend some care in developing it: in other 
words, we have to "make our soil." There are growers 
who go about this work very scientifically. The following 
system is a good and practical one: 

The plot being selected, clear of the hedgerows, a coat- 
ing of manure is put on by the manure spreader in the 
Fall, following a crop of Clover or Timothy. This is 
plowed under and the land worked once or twice. The 
following Spring a second dressing of manure with a 
sprinkling of bone is applied, and the same operation gone 
through as in the Fall. Then the soil is carted to the most 
convenient spot adjacent to the houses. Where circum- 
stances demand or permit, the compost heap can be pre- 
pared in the same way as is usual for Roses, layer for layer 
of sod and manure, at the rate of approximately one load 
of manure to six of sod, but conditions vary even in this. 
Before needed, these heaps are turned over thoroughly. 
Thus, with the handling of the compost in the carting to 
the several points, it becomes thoroughly incorporated. 
Some establishments use pulverizers, but in many locations 



STEAMING THE SOIL 8? 

this Is superfluous, In others practically impossible from 
the presence of so many pebbles. The skillful and intelligent 
grower soon grasps the exigencies of his own particular 
conditions and governs himself accordingly, to produce 
results with the minimum of cost. 

Where the supply of soil has been limited, the writer 
has noted that well pulverized manure and a sprinkling of 
ground bone spread over the old soil in the benches and 
worked in, answers passably; a layer of manure being also 
placed along the bottom of the benches and the old soil 
worked back over the manure. But these may be termed 
extraordinary conditions and do not call for serious atten- 
tion. The old soil in most cases is taken back and spread 
upon the vacant lot, and the process of restoration com- 
menced. A sowing of Rye can be planted In the early 
Fall. This is plowed under in the Spring and Corn planted. 
Corn permits of thorough cultivation to keep down weeds, 
which are Incidental to soils from the greenhouse. After the 
Corn has been taken off, the land can be plowed in the 
Fall. In the Spring it can be worked over and seeded down 
with a mixture of grass seed that will promote a quick sod. 

STERILIZING OLD SOIL 

It has been found both economical and satisfactory to 
sterilize old bench soil and so make use of it a second time. 
We prefer, of course, entirely fresh soil, but there are 
times when sterilization may be tried. But even fresh 
soil Is said to be benefited by this process — how far we 
are not prepared to say. For one thing, soil insects and 
fungus spores or mycelium are killed and other changes 
occur. 

The term sterilization Is a bad one, as a wholly sterile 



88 STEAMING THE SOIL 

soil would be worthless. What actually is done is to 
partially sterilize the soil by killing off some of the micro- 
organisms that are in it, but it has been found that certain 
forms of protozoa that are inimical to the nitrifying bac- 
teria are killed off in far greater numbers than these latter, 
which increase again with great rapidity after the sterilizing 
process, and make the soil rich again quickly. There 
are two chief methods: (i), by the use of steam under 
pressure; (2) by watering the soil with the volatile liquid 
called formaldehyde (formalin). 

The perforated pipe method of steaming consists of a 
system or set of perforated pipes, connected and buried in 
the soil of the bed, the surface then being covered with 
canvas or other covering and the steam passed into the 
system for such a period as is required to heat the soil to 
the necessary temperature. This temperature for best 
results is 180 deg. to 212 deg. Fahr., maintained for a 
period of an hour or more. The time required to reach 
this temperature will vary with the boiler area, the pressure 
and other steam and soil factors. The length of pipes of 
the system will be adapted to the beds, being one-half or 
one-third the total length of large beds. Generally, i in. 
pipe is used with ^8 in. holes bored in a straight line about i 
ft. apart. These pipes are buried in the beds 12 in. to 16 
in. apart. The crossheads and main to boiler should be 
2 in. pipe or larger. 

In burying the pipes it is well to see that they lie level 
in the bed so that condensed steam does not accumulate 
at any one point; the pipes should be buried to a depth 
of 4 in. to 6 in., and evenly covered over with the soil. 
Canvas, burlap or carpet may be spread over the surface 
to be sterilized, thus preventing the ready escape of steam. 

In practice it is found that to make the best use of 



STEAMING THE SOIL 89 

fuel and labor, two sets of perforated pipes are needed. 
Estimating 8 pipes to a bed and 30 ft. long, 240 ft. of 
pipe will be required for one set, and two sets with cross- 
head pipe will require about 500 ft. of pipe. Pipe such as 
required, ij^ in. in diameter, can be bought as low as 2c. 
per ft. from building and wrecking companies, while new 
\}/2 in. pipe can be bought for 4c. per ft. Estimating the 
pipe at 3c. per ft. for 500 ft., with connections, crosshead, 
cost of driUing holes, and fitting, at %6, the initial cost of 
two perforated pipe systems w4II be on an average about 
$20 or $10 for each one. 

The two sets of pipes are suggested in order to save 
outlay for labor and fuel. It requires time to dig up 
and reset a system of pipes, and this resetting of one 
system may be done while the process of steaming is going 
on in the other system; thus no labor is idle and steam 
will not have to be kept up unnecessarily long. In fact, 
the double system reduces fuel and labor by nearly 
one-half that required where only one system of pipes 
is used. 

In the inverted pan method the apparatus consists 
of a galvanized iron pan, 6 in. deep and 6 ft. by 10 ft. in 
size, which is inverted over the soil to be sterilized and the 
steam admitted under pressure. The pan is supphed with 
steam hose connections, has sharp edges, which are forced 
into the soil on all sides to prevent the escape of steam, 
and is fitted with handles for moving it from place to 
place, the weight of the entire pan being not over 400 
pounds. 

The soil is prepared as in the first mentioned method, 
a few Potatoes being buried at a depth of a foot to gauge 
the degree of heat obtained. A soil thermometer may 
also be used if desired. The steam should be kept at as 



STEAMING THE SOIL pi 

high pressure as possible, 80 to 100 pounds being best, 
and the treatment should continue for one or two hours, 
depending on the pressure maintained. In experiments 
conducted in the Spring of 1907, one hour's steaming at 
80 deg. C. under 100 lbs. pressure gave best results in kilhng 
both the fungus and the weed seeds. When one section 
of the bed is treated the pan is lifted and carried to an 
unsterilized portion and the operation repeated until 
the entire bed is steamed. 

For the most economical use of fuel and labor in the 
pan method of steaming, three or possibly four pans will 
be necessary, according to the width of beds. Estimating 
the cost of the pans at $15 apiece, the first outlay will be 
about $50 for set of three pans and connections. 

Thirdly, the drench system or watering with formalde- 
hyde (formalin). The cost items in this case become re- 
duced almost to that of cost of material. The best strength 
appears to be 3 to 33/2 pints or pounds to each 50 gallons 
of drench, applied at the rate of K to i gallon per sq. ft. 
of surface. Estimating that formaldehyde (U. S. P. 40 
per cent.) costs 8oc. per gallon, and that a strength of 
approximately i to 125 (33/2 pints or pounds of formalde- 
hyde to 50 gallons of water) be used at the rate of i gallon 
of the solution to each sq. ft. of area, the material to treat 
one house 30 ft. x 100 ft. (3000 sq. ft.) amounts to ap- 
proximately I21. The cost of treating the bench space in a 
house of the same size when either of the steam systems is 
used will be approximately I15 or $16 with the perforated 
pipe method, and $12 to Si 3 with the inverted pan method. 
For these figures and other facts here quoted, we are 
indebted to Circular 151 of the Ohio Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station, Wooster, Ohio, published in January, 
1915. 



92 FILLING BENCHES AND PLANTING 

FILLING THE BENCHES AND PLANTING SUGGESTIONS 

To the beginner let us call attention to the drainage 
question; it is an important one with Carnations. You 
can feed poor soil after it is in the benches, but you cannot 
do much for soil made sour by improper drainage. Lay a 
good coveiing of straw manure all over the bottom to 
prevent the soil from stopping up the openings. This is 
important, no matter whether you make use of heavy or 
light soiL Five inches of good soil is enough to grow any 
Carnation in, but let it be sweet soil, full of fiber and life. 
Worn out soil, or such as has been piled up somewhere for 
four or five years, will not grow good Carnations, no matter 
how good the drainage or how much feeding you do. 

PLANTING SUGGESTIONS 

The shorter the time the plants are out of the soil the 
better, and of course it goes without saying that the roots 
of the lifted stock should never be exposed to sun or wind 
any longer than is absolutely necessary. We all know that, 
and yet it does some of us good to be told again. Any 
intelligent man can arrange to suit his own particular case 
about how best to mark off his benches, how to get the 
plants in the shortest time from the field to the house, to 
space the plants properly, which depends a great deal on 
the varieties and the size of the plants, and to water thor- 
oughly after planting. A Carnation plant ought not to 
lie on its side after the first watering is done, nor should it 
be planted so deep that it cannot fall over; both are 
wrong. Shallow, loose planting retards the re-establishing 
of the plant, and deep planting invites stem rot; therefore 
right planting is of the greatest importance, and you 
cannot press the soil around the plants too solidly. 



HOUSING THE PLANTS 



93 




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94 HOUSING THE PLANTS 



AFTER PLANTING 



When housing Carnations, always remember you are 
disturbing a plant in full growth. You deprive it of about 
two-thirds, if not more, of its roots and expect it to keep 
on growing as if nothing had happened. In order to do 
this the least you can do is to provide conditions that will 
assist the plant as much as possible to overcome the shock 
and re-establish itself in the new quarters. Carnations 
cannot stand shade, and the only time you should subject 
them to it is at the period of planting and just after it, but 
not a minute longer than is necessary. Have the white- 
wash on the glass as thick as you please the first four or 
five days after planting, but after that take off a little 
each day so that at the end of the next five days it is prac- 
tically all off. Spray the plants three or four times lightly 
each day for the first few days, and then let up a little, Get 
down to twice a day for several weeks, and later to once a 
day except on very hot days. Closed doors and ventilators 
produce a soft, sickly growth on Carnations, and hardy, 
well-pinched stock does not need to be treated so. Avoid 
anything that might have a tendency to weaken the stock. 
Keep it healthy, strong, and full of blue-green foliage. A 
Carnation Is not a hothouse plant, and a palm house tem- 
perature or atmosphere is the opposite from what it wants. 

If you want to be very good to the Carnations in their 
new Winter quarters you will keep on cultivating the soil 
between them just as faithfully as you did outdoors. If the 
soil is in proper condition, this work can be done better by 
hand than in any other way; when you use the fingers you 
can tell by the touch just what you are doing. Frequently 
when using an iron scratcher or small cultivator a partly 
established plant is torn loose before it is noticed, so take 



SURPLUS STOCK 



95 




The Sydenham Soil Scarifiei 



care; go slow. Stir up the soil lightly all around the 
plants; destroy all weeds and if you possibly can afford the 
time clean the plants a little as you go. If the plants don't 
wilt any longer 
during the day, 
this is the best 
sign that new 
roots are sup- 
porting them 

and shade is no longer necessary. Get it off the glass, 
and let the full sunhght come in; open up the ventila- 
tors and the doors. Keep the stock short and bushy; 
you don't want them to flower at once. If the plants 
are in fine shape try to keep them so. Don't water be- 
cause the days may be awfully hot or because you make 
it a rule to water every day, but w^ater because the plants 
are in want of it. Go over the bench and examine it. The 
soil should not be allowed to dry out completely before 
w^ater is applied, as this w^ould hurt the newly planted 
stock just as much as to allow the roots to stand in soaking 
wet soil for several days. Try to keep the soil evenly moist. 
It is the best way for the new roots; it will encourage their 
growth more than anything else, and that is what you want 
and must have before you can expect long-stemmed flowers 
in September. 



UTILIZING SURPLUS FIELD CARNATIONS 

There are several ways of getting money out of surplus 
field Carnations. One is to keep on pinching the smaller 
plants back and potting them up about the middle of 
September, carry them over the Winter in frames, and use 
them for planting out for your customers' borders. These 



96 PINCHING 

plants will flower all Summer long and until frost comes. 
Many can be disposed of by every florist who sells bedding 
stock, but who w^ants small plants rather than large ones for 
potting up in Fall. Another way to make surplus field 
stock pay is to support the plants properly, disbud them and 
make good use of the flowers. Your freshly benched stock 
will not be ready to furnish long-stemmed flowers, while 
good bushy plants out in the field in August ought to 
flower, but you should not leave them unsupported, and a 
little short straw or hay between the plants will help to 
keep them clean during rainy weather. There is still 
another way to dispose of your surplus. There is always 
someone short of what you have a surplus of. Let it be 
known through a neat advertisement what you have to 
ofl'er, but don't make the mistake of trying to offer the 
plants for sale and at the same time let them flower. If 
you have the plants for sale keep them pinched back and 
keep them in the very best condition ready for benching, 
the way you would want to have them yourself. Stock 
full of buds and flowers is not fit to be planted, and it is 
wrong to ofi^er them for sale. 

PINCHING THE STOCK 

If nothing unforeseen happens after benching, the 
plants should keep on doing well, and get ready to do 
business by September. The question about how long to 
keep up pinching may be of interest to many growers, for 
from the end of August on a great deal depends on it as to 
when the stock will be in bloom. But even with the most 
careful cultivation and following the methods we have 
used with success for years past, no one could set a date 
when to stop pinching back in order to have a crop for any 



PINCHING 



97 



given date. Weather conditions have more to do with 
that than anything else. Plants at the end of August, 
with the majority of shoots 5 in. to 6 in. long, should be 
in good shape to produce flowers during the latter part of 
November and December. If they should set buds and 
start to flower on short stems it is just as well to pinch 
these out. A Carnation is worthless on an 8-in. or lo-in. 




•*Nft.-^ 








^■^-«^. 



Gannett's Field of Carnations at Geneva, N. Y., in Bloom 

stem, no matter when in bloom, and when the plants do 
that it is only due to insufficient roots. It shows a stunted 
condition of the plants, for they are not yet ready to flower. 
Good, long-stemmed flowers bring a fair price, even in 
September. Let the plants flower if they show signs of 
long stems. The next main crop of flowers may come 
along after Christmas, but what of that? If you could 
arrange it so that you could be sure of a Christmas crop by 



98 CARNATION SUPPORTS 

timely pinching, it would be a good thing, but you cannot, 
and instead of keeping on pinching, stop it after August 30, 
and only resort to it when you notice short stems forming 
buds. Get rid of such and let the strength required to 
develop these buds into flowers, which are of but very little 
value to you, go toward bringing forth new shoots which 
will later grow into strong, heavy stems. 

SUPPORTS 

Supports for the plants will now also be in order. 
They might not need it right away, but it will not be long 
before they do, and it is so much easier to put up wires 
and twine or whatever you are in the habit of using, when 
you can get around the plants easily, than later on. 

In our grandfathers' time all the flower buds on 
Carnation plants were allowed to bloom. Even long after 
the Carnation was grown entirely as a greenhouse plant 
this old custom of not pinching the buds still remained. 
Naturally the blooms were small and the plants short and 
bushy. Soon after the 'Carnation was brought under 
greenhouse cultivation, it became evident that some sort 
of a support would be beneficial — it would hold the plants 
apart from each other and thus give them more light and 
air. By the use of a support, a longer and straighter stem 
would be developed and the plants would be up out of the 
way so that the soil could be worked more easily. 

For want of something better, the florists in some 
instances took twigs of trees and stuck them in the soil 
next to the plants. By tying the plants to these, finer 
results were obtained, but the growers were in search of a 
better method of holding up their stock. This search 
has been progressing ever since and one method after 




CARNATION SUPPORTS 99 

another has made its appearance, been given a trial, and 
then been laid aside for a more improved means or method. 
Wood strips were tried by some, cane stakes had their 
time, even galvanized wire stakes such 
as are now much used for Roses and 
Chrysanthemums were resorted to, but 
all without entire satisfaction. Because 
of the many blooms on each plant the 
idea of tying them to a stake with string 
seemed unsatisfactory, and attention 
was turned to some sort of an arrange- 
ment to encircle the plant. Hog netting or fencing was 
stretched lengthwise over the bench and the plants were 
encouraged to grow up through the squares. Only a few 
gave this a trial. It proved to be a nuisance to work 
with, it offered serious difficulties to soil cultivation and 
failed to suit the growers who tried it. 

String and wire tying was the next to make its appear- 
ance. Wires were stretched between the plants lengthwise 
of the bench and strings were run crosswise of the bench 
between rows. This method is still in use in many ranges 
over the country, but it has disadvantages. With the string 
and wire the plants are apt to become matted and grow up 
into an adjoining square in place of into the square directly 
above. They are not held apart from each other and for 
this reason it is difficult to pick the blooms conveniently. 
This string and wire method also hinders the best and 
easiest cultivation of the soil, since it is very difficult to 
work in and around the plants. The time required to tie 
up Carnations by this method is very great. Many 
patent supports can be erected in less than one-half the 
time. 

Some fifteen years ago, almost simultaneously, in two 



100 



CARNATION SUPPORTS 




Fig. 2 



Indiana towns, one-ring Carnation supports were invented 
such as illustrated in Fig. i. This support was a very 
simple device made of one piece of wire about 4 ft. long. 
The ends of the wire formed the stake and 
were bent at right angles to the single ring. 
Number 1 1 galvanized wire was generally used 
for this purpose. The rings varied from 5 in. to 
7 in. in diameter. These home-made supports 
were usually formed over inverted flower pots, 
although a wooden block was sometimes used. 
The supports of the one-ring design were made 
with stakes ot different lengths. By way of ex- 
periment some growers combined the onie-ring 
support and the string and wire network. The 
ring supports were put in place soon after the 
plants were brought in from the fields. The 
string and wire were put in place whenever the Carna- 
tions needed additional support. This was 
the most satisfactory way yet discovered, 
but it proved to be very expensive, as a 
great deal of time was consumed in the 
two operations. 

The one-ring support had some merit 
and this fact led to the designing of a single 
plant support with three rings, such as 
illustrated in Fig. 2. This support was 
such a stride toward the ideal that several 
different companies started to manufacture 
them for the trade. The several makes 
were similar in principle, but differed slight- 
ly in construction. It was soon learned that these supports 
had to be fastened to something in order to insure the 
necessary rigidity. A running wire, stretched lengthwise 




Fig. 3 



CARNATION SUPPORTS 



10 1 



of the bench, was resorted to in most instances. The tie 
to this was first made by string, but later the safety lever 
clips were used in large numbers for this purpose. These 
three-ring supports for one plant each took up an enormous 
amount of room when packed between seasons. This was 
a serious objection. Many of them were damaged when 

not in use as they could not be 
packed flat. It was, therefore, 
no surprise that this type soon 
lost its popularity. 

The next step was the de- 
sign of a three-ring support to 
accommodate two plants. This 
type is illustrated in Fig. 3. 
Florists everywhere welcomed 
this new invention and many of 
the better makes of this design 
are in use today. While they 
need almost as much room for 
storing as did the three-ring sup- 
ports for one plant, still they are 
a decided improvement over 
FIG- 4 previous designs, both in respect 

to rigidity and the time required 
to put them in place. 

Fig. 4 illustrates a single plant support with two or 
three rings, which was designed to supply the rigidity that 
the supports, such as shown in Fig. 2, lacked. While this 
support aff'orded much stiff'ness, it put three stakes in the 
bench for each plant. This was objectionable in caring 
for the plants. From a commercial side, this was expensive 
to manufacture because of the excessive amount of wire. 
From the user's side it was expensive because of the time 




102 



CARNATION SUPPORTS 



it took to assemble the parts. Since the two-plant support 
was the most satisfactory solution to the problem yet 
found, an inventor, who had been connected with this 




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part of the business since its origin, conceived the idea of 
designing a three-ring support to accommodate as many 
plants as the grower has Carnations in each short row 



CARNATION SUPPORTS 



103 



crosswise of his bench. The result of his efforts is the 
continuous ring support. , 1 

A self-tying loop which makes the rapid tie in these 




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upports is also a feature. The supports themselves for 
a six-plant bench are illustrated in the diagram. These 



104 TREATMENT IN AUTUMN 

supports have many important features which are not 
found in earlier makes. They are self-tying, uniformly 
adjustable to the growing plant in height, suit any width 
bench, pack flat when not in use and give ample room 
between the rows to work the soiL Of course, it is hardly 
possible that one design of a Carnation support will ever 
be found which will suit all growers, but it is certain that 
this country has already advanced farther in the develop- 
ment of an ideal support than have our sister countries 
across the water. Other forms of stakes or supports are 
on the market and used by growers, as the coil support 
and wire frames. 

DISBUDDING, WATERING AND FEEDING 

There are very few growers today who neglect to 
disbud, yet frequently, in the rush of things, we are hable 
to put the disbudding off too long. This should be at- 
tended to whenever the buds are large enough to get hold 
of, and once a week is not too often to go over a bench of 
thrifty plants. It pays to do it. Let the strength which 
is required to develop these buds go into the one you want 
for the flower. Keep the flower stem free of side buds or 
shoots. All there should be on it is the one bud at the 
end, which is the one to look forward to, to bring the 
money. 

Feeding should be done regularly. The soil in the 
benches is full of roots, and the plants are in need of extra 
nourishment which has to be supplied if you need good 
stems and large flowers to continue. Well decomposed 
cow manure is always a good fertihzer. Next come bone, 
sheep manure and wood ashes. Avoid heavy doses; rather 
apply them oftener, and but httle at a time. 



FEEDING 105 

Much care has to be exercised in the use of chemical 
fertilizers for Carnations, as injury may be done before the 
results are noticed and can be remedied. It has been 
shown that dried blood, which supplies nitrogen to the 
plant, has resulted in an increase in the number of flowers 
without causing deterioration in the quality. Applications 
of acid phosphate and sulphate of potash have not given 
beneficial results when applied alone. 

Experiments have been carried out at the floricultural 
department of the University of Illinois and elsewhere, and 
the most important point brought out is that dried blood or 
sulphate of ammonia can be used with benefit on soils 
naturally moderately well supplied with organic matter; 
that no benefit has so far been found from the use of sul- 
phate of potash on the brown silt loamy soils; that an in- 
crease in production was noted when acid phosphate was 
applied in addition to dried blood. 

Where the soil is rich, or has been fairly well manured 
before planting, the old adage holds good, not to feed until 
the turn of the year. 

These chemical fertilizers may be applied in the form 
of weak solutions, say half an ounce to the gallon of water, 
at first once in two weeks, commencing from September 
or October if the plants are growing vigorously, and con- 
tinuing until about Christmas, then discontinuing during 
the dullest period until the middle of January, when the 
plants begin to yield their heaviest crop. The words of 
an eminent grower are well worth quoting: '* An old soil 
that has been under cultivation for a long time has no 
vegetable fiber and is not suitable for chemical fertilizers, 
as you are liable to promote a sour or acid condition. . . 
If a man can get good cow manure and good horse manure 
cheaply enough, these are the proper things to use; they 



I06 TREATMENT IN AUTUMN 

require less care and less judgment." Clay's Fertilizer 
has proved to be one of the best artificial manures for 
Carnations and is much used by some Eastern growers. 
It is quick in its action. 

In watering, it might be said that the benches require more 
from March ist than in the previous two months. Do not 
allow them to become dust dry before water is given. This, 
if repeated a few times, is bound to stunt the growth. 
Rather manage so as to keep the soil fairly moist at all 
times and thereby keep the stock in the best growing con- 
dition. You know the difference, of course, between moist 
and soaking wet; the latter condition finishes the best of 
plants in a very short time. 

KEEPING THE STOCK CLEAN 

If cool weather prevails in the Fall, all will be well. A 
Carnation can stand more cold than heat, especially when 
planted in a few inches of soil indoors, and while the 
stock is getting established a house of 48 to 50 deg. at 
night is better than one of ^^. Don't worry if the plants 
are slow at first in sending up flowering shoots, as long as 
they are full of good foliage. Give them time and do not 
make the mistake of applying fertilizer at once to make 
things go ahead. You are expecting the plants to furnish 
flowers all Winter, perhaps away into next May, and there 
is plenty of chance yet for the plants to start into flowering. 
A plant with eight or ten good stocky shoots, about 6 in. 
long, is far better than one with five shoots of which three 
are in flower on the first of October. Do not waste time 
with short shoots with buds on the end of them; remove 
them at once. Above all, keep the plants clean; if you do 
this after the benching and when the plants are settling 



TREATMENT IN AUTUMN 



107 




io8 



TREATMENT IN AUTUMN 



down to business in October you will have but little trouble 
during the Winter. 

Aphis and some other pests can be held in check 
either by fumigating or spraying. No matter what we 
grow, light fumigating or spraying with weak solutions does 
not hurt the plants in the least, but if we wait until the 
aphides have got a good foothold it is quite a job to get 




Contorted Leaves Caused by an Attack by Aphis 



them out of their entrenchments. The good grower 
avoids the appearance of aphis; he fumigates or sprays 
regularly, say once in every seven or eight days, and when- 
ever this is done and you start out with a clean house, nine 
chances out of ten it will stay clean. 

What is the best preparation to use for spraying or 
fumigating? Make it a rule to spray once a week with a 



TEMPERATURES I Op 

weak dose of Aphine, and no greenfly will ever be visible 
on the plants. Make the solution a little weaker than 
mentioned on the can and apply oftener. No plant can 
do its best with an insect feeding on the leaves or stem, to 
say nothing about the unsightliness of it. 

TEMPERATURES 

Have a fairly moist atmosphere in the house; maintain 
a night temperature of about 50 deg. and make good use of 
the ventilators during sunny days even until toward the 
end of November. Keep the house cool. You may not 
cut quite as many flowers during the dark weeks to come, 
but that will all be made up later on; avoid ^^ deg. at night 
and the dry atmosphere that usually goes with it. Keep 
busy cleaning and cultivating. 

TREATMENT DURING DARK WEATHER 

Sometimes dark weather prevails during the latter 
part of November and in December, probably with snow 
and a temperature near zero. During a clear, bright week it 
does not hurt nearly as much to have the temperature in 
the house go up to 60 or 65 deg. as to allow ^^ deg. on dark, 
cloudy days. The few dollars one gets out of a house 
for flowers which have been forced out through an extra 
dose of steam are a small compensation for the loss of 
vitality in the plants. The beginner in particular should 
try to avoid weakening his plants by attempting to obtain 
an extra heavy Christmas crop with additional heat. Be 
careful all through December. Avoid mulching the 
benches that are not in need of it — rather keep the surface 
of the soil lightly cultivated. Let the air and a little sun 
get in; be careful about watering and watch the ventilators. 



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WINTER WORK III 

Carnations like fresh air and plenty of it, and the man who 
keeps the ventilators shut down tight in order to keep the 
heat in is not among the best growers. A little crack of 
air whenever things warm up a little means healthier stock. 
If you are depending on your own Carnations for 
Christmas and New Year, exercise proper care in cutting 
the flowers; go over the plants carefully and only cut 
those that are nearly fully open. A careless man may cut 
as they come, but that is wrong; let the flowers not fully 
developed remain, yet not so long that they are overde- 
veloped and so go to sleep soon after being cut. Do your 
close cutting at Christmas, when you need the flowers most. 
At the same time an oversupply in the market then may 
mean weak prices, while there may be a greater call after 
the holidays than can be supplied. One must get to know 
the probable conditions as nearly as possible and act 
accordingly. 

WORK IN LATE WINTER AND SPRING 

It is really from the second week in February that 
many growers get the most out of the plants, and the man 
who considers that his work is done on the benches after 
this date, and does nothing beyond disbudding and cutting 
the flowers, makes a great mistake. He who intends throw- 
ing his plants out early in Spring in order to make room 
for bedding stock need not be so particular; but even with 
him, if he intends cutting flowers until Easter, it will pay 
well to spend a few hours each week on a bench and attend 
to the routine work, such as has to be done in order to feel 
that everything is in first-class shape, and those who have 
it that way are the ones who are making the growing of 
Carnations a paying proposition. Disease of any kind is 
liable to attack a Carnation plant, no matter how clean the 



112 GROWING PLANTS UNDER GLASS ALL SUMMER 

house, how well taken care of the stock may be, or in what 
splendid shape; yet such a plant has more resisting force, 
and on that account will be less affected than one that has 
suffered because of improper handling. 

If you are obliged to grow other stock with the Car- 
nations in the same house, and you want success with the 
Carnations, provide conditions and keep the house to suit 
them and not the other stock, and you are on the right 
road. Stock in a healthy growing condition is sending 
up 24-in. to 30-in. stems at the end of February. This 
means that you must support them properly and keep the 
bad leaves picked off. 



Growing Plants Under Glass All Summer 

Some growers find it more convenient to plant their 
young stock in the benches immediately after the flowering 
plants have been cleared out. In this case, the soil is re- 
newed or sterilized and the benches made clean and the 
house likewise made fresh and agreeable. Others adopt a 
half-way system by planting the young stock outside as 
early in the Spring as possible, close together in the rows, 
say, 6 in. or 8 in. apart, just allowing enough run between 
to work a hand cultivator. By the first of July, if pinching 
has been carefully attended to, nice, bushy plants will 
have resulted, and may be at once housed. The greatest 
enemy to indoor culture is red spider. Immediately after 
housing, the same care as mentioned in the general article 
on cultivation has to be exercised. 

One of the principal drawbacks to growing the plants 
inside, as was pointed out in ,a paper read before the Ameri- 
can Carnation Society at Buffalo in 1900, by Jas. Hartshorne, 



CARRYING OVER FOR A SECOND YEAR II3 

is the baking and cracking of the soil if it contains much 
clay, and where this happens it means a great deal more 
work in cultivating by hand, as against using an implement 
out of doors. A ridge or elevation of the soil may be left 
between the rows, which affords a sort of catchment for the 
water and prevents it running over the surface of the 
entire bed. The ventilators should be left open night and 
day until the temperature gets down to 40 degrees at night, 
which keeps the plants healthy, and by the second week in 
September blooms can be had. 



Plants for Blooming More Than One Year 

In the cooler sections of the country, as Maine and the 
Northwest, carrying the bench plants over a second year and 
flowering them is a well-known practice, and is successfuL 
It is also frequently done in European estabhshments. 
The common objection is that the old plants are apt to get 
attacked with red spider, to get lanky, with many dead 
leaves, and the flowers are inferior the second year. 

Some years ago a Chicago firm tried the experiment of 
cutting back the plants and carrying them over for the 
second year. The results were described by Mr. A. T. 
Pyfer in part, as follows:* 

This is a very difficult matter to handle, aiid it will 
not pay the ordinary small grower to sacrifice his blooms in 
the Spring iii order to cut back the plants. We have experi- 
mented mostly on plants we have used for cutting purposes, 
especially new varieties or varieties of which the cuttings 
have been greatly in demand, so it was not necessary for us 



* Proceedings of the American Carnation Society for 1914. 



114 CARRYING OVER FOR A SECOND YEAR 

to sacrifice the blooms in the Springtime in order to cut 
back the plants, as the cuttings were all taken off. 

About the best time to cut back stock is the latter part 
of April, and our method is to use pruning shears and cut 
everything even across the bench, about six or seven inches 
above the soiL E)isregard any nice looking shoots that 
might give promise of giving flowers in the Summer. White 
Enchantress does very welL We tried this variety by tak- 
ing the plants out of the soil after cutting them back in 
April and replanting them in another bench. We found 
there was very Httle difference in getting them into crop 
and the number of blooms you would get from these plants 
by leaving them in the same bench, removing some of the 
top soil, and refilling with fresh soil and mulch. The ex- 
pense of taking off the top soil and carrying in the fresh soil 
in boxes or pails is about as much as to empty the bench 
and refill it. We have been able to cut as many as twelve 
blooms to the plant from July i to Jan. i. These were 
strong, healthy plants that had been used the season be- 
fore for cutting purposes, therefore it was not necessary to 
sacrifice any blooms. 

We also tried Beacon plants that were not used for 
cutting purposes the first year, by leaving on all the flowering 
shoots that would bloom by Memorial Day, and cutting 
everything ofP the plants about six inches above the soil. 
It is an easy matter to determine about the first part of 
May which buds will be in bloom for Memorial Day. You 
can then cut off" all their shoots, leaving only the largest 
buds, and as the flowers develop they can be cut off even 
with the other shoots. In this way you will have nice, 
even plants, and with careful treatment they will be in 
good growing condition and begin to throw up a nice 
number of shoots by the first of July, and by the middle of 



CARRYING OVER FOR A SECOND YEAR 



115 




A Pot-Grown Carnation 

Carnations are very seldom grown in pots in this country, but the treatment in pots 
IS the sanie m all the mam essentials as for stock in benches. Care should be taken to 
prevent the roots becoming pot bound and feeding and watering demand close atten- 
^?-^- X?^ illustration here given represents the one-time favorite scarlet variety, 
Wmter Cheer. 



Il6 CARRYING OVER FOR A SECOND YEAR 

August you will have a heavy crop of cut flowers. In this 
way we had some of the finest Beacon we ever grew. It 
requires an extra amount of fertihzer and a little more 
attention to run the plants over the second year, especially 
during the Winter months. Care must be exercised at 
all times to see that your stock is kept in good condition, as 
nothing but Ai stock should be used for this purpose. 




CHAPTER VI 



Sectional Cultural Treatises 

southern california 

The culture of Carnations for cut flowers in Southern 
California is an immense business, but one so unorganized 
and detached that it is almost impossible to give any data 
as to numbers grown or capital tied up in it. Of recent 
years it has passed very largely into the hands of Japanese 
growers, and while they are excellent cultivators, it is a 
little difficult to get any reliable information as to their 
business. One grower to whom the writer appealed, and 
who has many acres devoted to Carnations, gave it as his 
impression that there were 100,000 plants grown around 
Los Angeles. But as one firm sends out more rooted 
plants annually than this, the value of the information 
given with the insinuating smile characteristic of the 
" little brown man " is not very great. 

There are three principal methods of growing for cut 
blooms. One method is to grow outdoors entirely, and 
there are hundreds of acres devoted this way. Another 
is to grow under cheap cloth or canvas houses built in the 
span roofed form of the ordinary commercial greenhouse. 
The third is strictly under glass culture, and it is this way 
that the " hothouse " flowers, as they are locally termed, 
are grown. The last named flowers are best quality and 
command the highest prices. Indoor culture is about the 
same as practised in the East and Middle West, and the 



Il8 CARNATIONS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 

varieties grown are similar. The cuttings are inserted 
closely in sand, early in the new year, usually as soon as 
the Christmas and New Year's demand is over. The 
young plants are potted into 2 in., and grown on. Some 
growers plant them in the field for lifting later in the 
year, to be transferred to the benches. Others keep them 
in pots until the benches or solid beds are ready and then 
plant in the usual way. Enchantress, White Enchantress, 
Victory, Harlowarden, Dorothy Gordon and the newer 
variegated Benora, are popular kinds. 

A year or two ago considerable trouble was caused to 
indoor growers by an insect that did great damage. It is a 
winged insect like a small moth, that flies by night and lays 
its eggs in the forming buds, causing them to wilt and die 
off instead of developing. One grower lost the entire cut 
of 25,000 plants two years ago from this pest, but has 
now got it well under control and loses but few. The heat 
by day is seldom so great in Southern California as in other 
parts of the country, while the nights are always cool and 
pleasant. For this reason the time of cutting good stock is 
longer and in fact may be said to cover the entire year 
if ordinary care is used. But as usual, when natural con- 
ditions are good, slipshod methods arise, and while there 
are many exceptions, it cannot be denied that the general 
upkeep of Carnation houses here is not so good as in less 
favored climates, and it is rare to find a place where every- 
thing is kept up to the highest pitch of perfection or the 
best results attained that could be. 

The cloth houses are simply constructed affairs, with 
dwarf wooden w^alls and a framework of battens or i in. 
by 3 in. spars, and over this the cloth is nailed. Some 
growers omit the cloth during the growing season, covering 
in September or October for a Winter crop. Others keep 



CARNATIONS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IIQ 

them under cloth continuously. The plants are grown on 
solid beds made wide enough to take about five rows of 
plants. During the propagating season in earl}' Spring, 
one or more of these beds have the soil removed and re- 
placed with sand, in w^hich the cuttings are rooted. The 
most popular kinds for this style of culture are Los Angeles 
White, Fair Maid (pink), and Dr. Choate (red). These 
are also found best for outdoor planting. 

Then, many growers have selections or seedhngs of 
their own which they depend on in their separate colors 
but do not sell stock of them. For instance, one firm of 
growers in the San Gabriel Valley has a pink seedling raised 
some five years ago which is remarkable for its good shipping 
quahties. This is shipped into the desert sections of 
Nevada and New Mexico, Arizona and other points when 
many varieties fail to carrj' well. This firm has never sold 
a plant of this particular variety, preferring to keep it for 
its own use. Another firm raised a white form of Fair 
Maid which was held for quite a long time, but has now 
become fairly well disseminated among growers. H. W. 
Turner, Jr., is another good white that has been in culti- 
vation for some years but only in 1915 was it adveitised or 
brought to the attention of the public. 

Growers of field Carnations or strictly outdoor culti- 
vators usually purchase their young stock annually from 
firms w^ho make a specialty of this class of trade, while 
others have propagating houses in which they raise their 
own plants. 

Probably the finest Carnations outdoors are those 
that are grown near the sea, and Redondo has long been 
famous as a Carnation growing center. The old Redondo 
Carnation Gardens were for many years the rendezvous 
for the trade, but they have been entirely removed to make 



120 CARNATIONS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 

room for modern improvements and the Carnation growers 
are pushed farther and farther out every year. Hundreds 
of thousands of flowers are sold by the growers at little 
improvised booths along the principal boulevards to passing 
autoists, while many more are shipped to Los Angeles, 
San Francisco, San Diego and other centers of population. 

Almost all the work outside of plowing is done by hand, 
Japanese men, women and children working long hours 
planting, disbudding, cultivating and gathering the flowers. 
The fields look very beautiful when in bloom and the 
delightful fragrance is carried for miles, but it can hardly 
be advised as a profitable business for anyone who would 
have to hire all the help needed. Early and late these 
Japanese families work at the business, little brown, round 
faced youngsters, hardly higher than the Carnation plants, 
taking a hand in the game and coming up loaded with great 
bunches of flowers as large as themselves. As to the price, 
it is difficult to see how they make anything out of it. 
During times of plenty fine flowers will be offered in the 
streets of Los Angeles for five cents the dozen — not culls 
or splits, but good, well developed, well colo^-ed flowers 
that have been disbudded and taken care of just the same 
as a ** hothouse " Carnation. 

As hinted above, it would be a hard task to get any- 
thing like an approximate idea of the number of plants 
grown, for where one grower may have ten acres in Carna- 
tions, there are scores with half an acre, a city lot oi two, 
or even a back yard behind the shack where the family 
resides. 

IN THE NORTHWEST PACIFIC COAST 

The past five years, Oregon and Washington have 
seen an increase of fully 50 per cent, in the output of 



CARNATIONS IN THE NORTHWEST 121 

Carnations for the cut flower markets. This rapid increase 
has been owing to a wave of prosperity in this territory. 
The improvement in the quahty of Carnations ofl^ered to 
the buying pubhc also has had a tendency to stimulate 
the demand for this flower, and growers have enlarged 
their places everywhere and many new establishments 
have sprung up. The crop is mostly grown by larger 
firms who retail their own products and also purchase 
from smaller growers. No central market has been 
established so far. 

Growers who dispose of their Carnations at wholesale 
have been receiving an average of about $2 per 100; some 
may average a little better, especially where quality is 
high. Overproduction and glutted markets have been 
rarely experienced, yet occasionally prices have dropped 
very low for a short time. 

Cuttings are usually taken by the middle of October 
up to the middle of February, in some instances even until 
April. A temperature of 6^ deg. is kept in the sand of 
the propagation bench, with 50 deg. overhead, as far as 
possible. After potting the cuttings into 2 in. pots, they 
are, after rooting through the pots, planted out into 
Chrysanthemum benches a distance of 5 in. apart. By 
pinching back once or twice, well branched plants are 
obtained, which are then set into their permanent benches 
during June. Many growers, however, set out their 
stock from 2 in. pots in the field during the latter half of 
April. Frequent cultivation and pinching back produce 
plants ready for benching from the middle of June to the 
middle of July. Early planting has always proved more 
satisfactory in this climate, owing partially to the extremely 
dry Summer weather, which favors the development of 
thrips and red spider in the field, where they are much 



122 CARNATIONS IN THE NORTHWEST 

harder to control than under glass. There is also a heavy 
demand for early Carnations which frequently bring better 
prices than later ones. The average time from propagating 
to the beginning of cutting flowers has proved to be approxi- 
mately twelve months. From the experience of many 
growers it has been demonstrated that Carnation varieties 
in general appear to deteriorate less quickly on this Coast 
than in other sections of the country. 

Carnations are grown in all sorts of greenhouses today, 
but the newer ranges now being built are mostly of the 
Moninger and King patterns. Benches in general are 5 ft. 
wide. Tall and slender growing varieties are usually 
planted 8 in. x 10 in. apart, and heavy growers of the 
Enchantress type 10 in. x 12 in. The average size glass 
in use at the present is nearly all 16 in. x 18 in. 

One of Portland's expert growers of Carnations has 
accurate cost and crop records based on seven years of 
observation. The cost of production of 7000 plants from 
the time of propagating until ten months' crop has been 
harvested, has given an average figure of i93^c. per plant, 
allowing, also, in the cost, for a 10 per cent, depreciation in 
the value of buildings. The average cut per plant proved 
to be 13 good salable flowers. Good croppers produced 
as many as 18 flowers for a cutting period of ten months. 

Fuel used in the greenhouse boilers of the North 
Pacific States is mainly fir cordwood, for which an average 
price of about $4.50 per cord is being paid. Coal from 
local mines costs from $4.50 to $6.00 per ton, but is of a 
very poor grade, while good bituminous coal is selling 
from $8.00 to Si 0.00 per ton. 

The leading varieties in red colors now grown are 
Victory and Herald, the former being closely followed by 
Champion. In white. White Enchantress and White 



CARNATIONS IN MOUNTAIN STATES 123 

Wonder have so far proved the best producers. Match- 
less is being tried out successfully by several growers. 
Mrs. C. W. Ward is today the most popular deep pink, 
while Gorgeous and Rosette have proved desirable for the 
fancy retail trade when grown with special care. En- 
chantress Supreme is rapidly replacing all other light 




Stopping Young Plants 



Plant stopped once and 

ready for second stopping 

at points indicated. 



Plant twice stopped and 
ready for third stopping 



Young plant first time 
stopped 



pinks, and for returns is considered the best variety. In 
striped colors, Benora is the only one to be found and is 
only grown to supply a slight local demand. 



CARNATIONS IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION 

The notes that follow deal with a region that includes 
an area about as large as ninety States the size of Massa- 
chusetts. Denver, the capital of Colorado, may be taken 
as the center of this region, other cities being Pueblo 
and Colorado Springs, Colo.; Ogden and Salt Lake City in 
Utah; Butte, Great Falls and Helena in Montana, and 
Cheyenne in Wyoming. 



124 CARNATIONS IN MOUNTAIN STATES 

Propagation is started early, as the young stock 
must have a long time in which to make plants of suitable 
size for the field. Owing to late frosts, planting outdoors 
cannot be done until about May lo; to plant earlier is to 
risk too much. The bright sunlight of this region causes a 
crisp growth in stem and foliage, and the cuttings root 
quickly, as they have not to struggle through weeks of 
cloudy weather, with snow on the roof perhaps for days at 
a time. They must be put promptly into the sand, else 
they are ruined, and once in they must be watered gener- 
ally once a day and even twice. 

Low houses are the most satisfactory for propagating, 
because artificial humidity can be created. Cloth curtains 
under the glass and in front of the bench help to prevent 
wilting. It is not believed that propagating can be suc- 
cessfully carried out in high, airy houses, such as one sees 
in the vicinity of Chicago and elsewhere. 

There is a great difficulty in getting suitable soil in 
the States here, and as during the Winter the plants require 
a thorough watering at least once a week owing to the dry 
atmosphere, the soil is apt to get packed. 

Before planting is begun the field must have a thorough 
soaking, either from surface ditches or with the hose, and 
after planting we generally water with a lawn sprinkler 
or by the overhead irrigation system every night while the 
plants are in the field. With plenty of water and a rea- 
sonably good soil, the plants make a healthy growth, though 
they do not attain great size. The days are hot and sunny, 
but if the plants are well watered they do not flag, and at 
night the air is cool and refreshing. It is not uncommon 
for the mercury to drop to 50 deg. or even to 45 deg. F. at 
night, following a day temperature of 90 deg. in the shade, 
and the Carnations seem to enjoy this. Should the plants 



CARNATIONS IN MOUNTAIN STATES 1 25 

escape the hailstorms which sometimes nearly ruin them, 
they ought to be of satisfactory size by the first to the 
middle of August for lifting from the field and replanting 
in the houses. 

Before beginning our planting we shade the house 
heavily with mud, close all ventilation and wet down the 
walks and under the benches. When all is ready the 
plants are brought from the field with all the soil that will 
cling to them and transferred to the bench as quickly as 
possible. The house is kept absolutely without ventila- 
tion for the first two or three days, and the plants are 
frequently syringed. The walks and the ground under the 
benches are kept drenched and everything possible done to 
prevent wilting. As soon as it seems safe, a little ventila- 
tion is given, generally starting at night, and the shade 
gradually removed. Within ten days the house is having 
full light and ventilation. 

It should be noted that very few of the plants are 
grown exclusively in benches. Another important point is 
that manure is to be used more sparingly than in the East. 
The dry air and sunshine tend to ripen all growth quickly 
and to produce short jointed wood with shorter stems, 
with flowers a little under the Eastern size, but with good 
color and better keeping qualities than those produced with 
less sunshine. 

It is quite the common thing to admit that a grower 
will be handicapped by difference in soil and climate if he 
moves from England to Massachusetts, or from the Atlantic 
to Ohio or Indiana; yet the difference in conditions between 
any of these points is not so great as between either of these 
localities and the Rocky Mountain region. Except in a 
few limited areas the whole of this country east of Kansas 
and Nebraska is less than a thousand feet above sea level, 



126 IN TEXAS AND THE SOUTH 

and in the small elevated sections the difference in soil, 
humidity, or precipitation are not extreme; but when we 
come to the Rocky Mountains we find a territory over 1 500 
miles long from north to south, and averaging 500 miles 
in width, with very few points less than 4000 ft. above the 
sea. The air is dry, the rainfall meager, and the sunlight 
brilhant. In short, the whole region is arid, and ordinary 
farm crops cannot be produced without artificial irrigation. 
It is almost impossible to convey by words an adequate 
idea of the drying effect of the air of this region. The 
annual rainfall here averages about ten to twelve inches, 
while the rainfall in Massachusetts or in Indiana is four 
times that. 

In regard to varieties, at one time the Lawson type 
seemed to be almost ideal; later on Enchantress and its 
sports were easily the best growers. White Enchantress 
is still the leading white by a laige majority; Enchantress 
Supreme is giving an excellent account of itself, and is very 
satisfactory where grown. Other varieties cultivated in 
large quantity are Beacon, Ward and Gloriosa. Additions 
to this number could be made, but these are the sorts that 
stand out prominently. 

TEXAS AND THE SOUTH 

When florists of Texas and the South undertake to 
grow Carnations, many of them start out with a degree of 
doubt as to their ultimate success, and not with that 
optimistic buoyant feeling that they would have with other 
stock that they were more sure of, as being natural to 
Southern climates. Particularly is this true as the Gulf 
Coast is approached, for indeed the South cannot be reckoned 
with as a land of one climate or condition, and is more 



IN TEXAS AND THE SOUTH 127 

diversified in this respect than one who was not well ac- 
quainted with it would believe. It is not necessarily the 
nearness to the tropical zone that regulates a tropical 
climate, for the altitude above the sea level, or other 
immediate local conditions, have a far reaching effect. 

As far south as the city of Mexico flowers of all 
descriptions usually cultivated in the Northern States are 
to be seen and Carnations among them are grown to 
splendid advantage. Yet within a distance of one hundred 
miles, when you have come down from the plateau of the 
city, which is at an altitude of 7000 feet, you are at once 
among the Coffee plantations of the tropics. It may be 
well, therefore, not to consider latitude too much in regard 
to estimates of climate. It would be infinitely better to 
ask the question: " Can the Carnation be profitably grown 
in this or that locality? " and not, " Can it be grown for 
profit in the South ? " 

If a line were drawn longitudinally through the Southern 
States from Dallas, Texas, to Montgomery, Alabama, 
it could be said that in the territory north of this line, 
Carnations are being grown quite successfully by profes- 
sional growers with unquestionable profit and satisfaction. 
But generally speaking, south of this line their success is 
not so well assured. 

A grower of much prominence in south Texas, who 
had been a close observer of the Carnation and the advisa- 
bility of growing it commercially, is strongly of the opinion 
that on the whole it is a proposition yet to be worked out 
here. This crop has not had a really first class test. It is 
clear that the specialist is, by virtue of concentration, the 
man who will achieve success. It is believed that with a 
capital of several thousand dollars an equipment may be 
large and thorough enough in every detail to grow Carna- 



128 IN TEXAS AND THE SOUTH 

tions so to declare a dividend on the investment, even in 
Gulf Coast localities. 

The varieties to be grown should include Pink and 
White Enchantress, Enchantress Supreme, and Beacon. 
Further trials on some of the newer kinds as they appear 
will become a matter of test. 

The soil best adapted is well rotted turf, and rotted 
manure, three parts of the former to one of the latter, 
composted with some charcoal, and a little clay if the soil 
is too porous in character. Drainage is most important, 
and benches, with about 6 in. of soil, are advised. 

One grower bases his scale of profit on the following 
statement: ** If I cannot put in my plants early enough 
in this climate, so that I can commence cutting blooms in 
December, I would not regard the flowering period to be 
long enough to make it worth the while, for the usual warm 
weather of Spring detracts from the vitahty of the plants 
and cuts off from a sufficiently long season at the latter 
stage. The fact is that with a long season, the first buds, 
usually with rather short stems, will bloom and after that 
the plant seems to rest until the next lot of stems and buds 
are grown out, and these are usually with the best stems 
and better blooms, and so on. In measuring the length of 
vitality to be expected, a long season of cool weather, 
sufficient sunshine, with proper ventilation, and absence 
from disease are the governing factors." 

The cost of growing, with oil for fuel, would be lower 
in the Southern States than in States depending on coal. 
The matter of express carriage would be eliminated, as 
there would be the satisfaction of offering to the retail 
trade blooms that were cut the same day. For these 
reasons the Southern grower could command an advance 
in prices over the grower of the North for the same quality 



CARNATIONS IN ALABAMA 1 29 

of Stock, and avoid the many annoyances contingent upon 
the business of shipping. 

For the immediate present, in regard to Carnation 
growing in the South, a report of some encouragement 
may be offered in that progress is being made among 
about thirty or forty per cent, of Southern growers who 
make an attempt of some kind. At a time not too far 
distant, when they will have grown as old in the business 
of flower culture as have their Northern contemporaries, 
they may be expected, with that knowledge of technique 
and practice now common to Americans, to produce their 
own Carnations with as much facility as do growers of the 
North. 

IN ALABAMA 

The propagating should be well under way early in 
December. When the young plants are strong enough 
they are put out into frames, where they receive protection 
when that is necessary. Early grown stock of a sturdy 
nature can be planted in the field from 30 to 40 days earlier 
than would be possible in lUinois or Northern States. 
The planting out is done at the end of March, or at latest 
by the first week in April. Late planted stock never 
amounts to much, and even if the stand or crop looks well, 
the plants seem to lack vitality. Housing takes place early 
in July, in the usual type of greenhouse, although it is 
stated that good Carnations can be grown under lath houses, 
if promptly staked and cultivated with care, especially in 
the northern parts of Alabama, Georgia and on the Piedmont 
region. 

CARNATIONS IN NORTH CAROLINA 

One of the chief growers at Raleigh, in this State, 
begins taking cuttings early in January and continues 



130 CARNATIONS IN MISSOURI 

throughout February. The first batch when rooted is 
potted into 23^2 in. pots, in good loamy soil. By handling 
in this way the firm in question does not have to shift the 
stock until it is ready for planting in the field. The plants, 
however, are fed with Hquid manure six weeks after being 
potted, and this treatment is continued weekly until the 
operation of planting in the field, which takes place usually 
early in ApriL 

Slat houses are not used, but ordinary greenhouses. 
Preparation for benching begins in July by the filhng of 
the benches, and housing takes place usually about Aug. i. 
The planting is rushed as rapidly as possible until it is 
completed. Very Httle shading is used on the glass, and 
these growers assert that they prefer a dry season for 
housing, as this causes the plants to take hold of the new 
soil more readily. 

In regard to varieties, nothing surpasses the old 
Enchantress in this section, but some of the newer kinds 
are being tested. Northport is found to be very superior; 
Mrs. C. W. Ward is the standard variety of its color, while 
for a scarlet or red, the old Victory is still grown, together 
with Beacon, Commodore and Scarlet Glow. An entirely 
satisfactory red for here, however, has not yet been pro- 
cured. These general conditions, so far as propagation, 
field culture and benching are concerned, hold good general- 
ly throughout this State and section. 

ST. LOUIS AND MISSOURI REGION 

In speaking of the Carnation industry in the locality 
of St. Louis, Mo., we shall endeavor, first, to take up 
the varieties grown for this market; second, to out- 
line in a general way the establishments contributing 



CARNATIONS IN MISSOURI 



131 



Stock; and, third, the manner of culture due to local con- 
ditions. 

Among the older varieties still grown quite extensively 
are Enchantress, White Enchantress, Beacon, Rose Pink 
Enchantress, White Perfection and Scarlet Glow. We 




Types of Buds and Flowers 



Vt. Ex. Stat 



Bud and Flower of Typical Single, Commercial and Double 
OR Bull-Headed Carnations 



have among the more recent introductions, which have 
become quite standardized, such varieties as Pink Delight, 
Gloriosa, White Wonder, Benora, Rosette, Enchantress 
Supreme, Mrs. C. W. Ward, St. Nicholas and Herald. 



132 CARNATIONS IN MISSOURI 

We have among those of promise from the 1914 introduc- 
tions — Champion, Matchless, Peerless Pink and Phila- 
delphia. The latter is not yet proving satisfactory. In 
most places it will be given another trial. These varieties 
are not all extensively grown for this market, yet there 
are some of them in the different establishments hereabouts. 
Were we asked to name just the varieties grown generally 
by almost everyone, the answer would be Enchantress, 
White Enchantress, Beacon, White Wonder and Mrs. C. 
W. Ward. In the variegated, Benora, and in crimson, 
St. Nicholas, are most grown. The demand for either of 
these and also for yellow is very limited in St. Louis market, 
hence neither is generally grown. 

Whenever those of this vicinity visit the East, they 
often wonder how Pink Delight took the East by storm, 
and considering the way it flourishes it can readily be seen 
why the Eastern growers take so kindly to it. Yet it is 
not extensively grown around St. Louis, as it is hard to do 
well in that region. In pink shade Enchantress still reigns. 
Yet Enchantress Supreme is fast finding favor. In the 
whites we find White Perfection has given way to White 
Enchantress and White Wonder. White Enchantress still 
holds her own as the standard white. In the rose-pink 
shade there is still probably more Rose-Pink Enchantress 
g^own than any other one variety of that color. Mrs. C. 
W. Ward, however, is now a close competitor and bids fair 
to replace it soon. The local growers had great hopes for 
Philadelphia, but so far it has not made good, and possibly 
will never become generally grown, but that remains to be 
seen. In red. Beacon still heads the list. There are 
many Scarlet Glow grown, and quite a few Herald. A 
number of growers who have grown Champion call it the 
Red " White Wonder." If that proves to be the case, it 



CARNATIONS IN MISSOURI 133 

surely is the coming red. In addition to the varieties 
mentioned, quite a few seedlings are grown by local men 
who make no business of introducing them. We expect 
almost any day to hear of one of these worthy gentlemen 
making a lucky strike with a real good novelty, and then 
send it out to the trade, which in a large measure would 
stimulate others to try their hand in this excellent work. 

In the immediate vicinity of St. Louis there are no 
very large establishments, but of small to medium size in 
Kirkwood and other suburbs. These range in size from 
10,000 to 50,000 sq. ft., most of which has been devoted to 
the growing of Carnations. There are quite a number of 
large establishments west, as far as Kansas City and 
north to Chicago, also east as far as the eastern boundary 
of Indiana, which at times contribute a large portion of 
stock to this market. This, of course, takes in nearly all 
the large establishments of the Middle West. To try to 
give an estimate on the amount of plants grown from 
which blooms are shipped to this market would be a mere 
guess, and to get anything like a definite figure is next to 
impossible on account of the many changes from Carna- 
tions to Violets, Sweet Peas or Roses from year to year. 
Suffice it to say that the writer's experience goes back over 
twenty-five years and in all that time he has never known 
of a single man or firm who made any more than a decent 
living over and above ordinary expenses by growing Carna- 
tions exclusively for the St. Louis wholesale market. Quite 
a number have not even made ends meet. 

We think we can say without fear of contradictory 
proof, that except on rare occasions within the last ten 
years were Carnations so scarce, unless at the Christmas 
holidays, that the wholesale price exceeded three cents, 
and many times during every season they sell as low as 



134 CARNATIONS IN MISSOURI 

$10 and even $5 per 1000. The average price received by 
any grower during that time seldom exceeded two cents. 
Of course, this is compelhng many growers to take up 
other lines, and Roses are principally substituted. What 
this will do to the Rose market remains to be seen. 

The style of houses is various. The construction 
is principally the ridge and furrow plan, in width from 15 
to 40 ft., and in length not to exceed 300 ft., mostly all of 
wood construction. Recently a few growers have gone 
over to the more modern and permanent style, namely, 
semi-iron or steeL The largest of these is the immense 
range of Gullett & Sons at Lincoln, IlL This firm has 
always contributed a large portion of its stock to the local 
market. These houses are of the Moninger all-steel type. 
The only house of iron construction in this vicinity is that 
of W. J. Pilcher, at Kirkwood, Mo., this being a Lord & 
Burnham house, 72 ft. x 200 ft., which at present is devoted 
to Roses. Carnations in this section are not deemed worthy 
of such fancy houses, evidently, as none has yet been 
erected for that purpose. 

As to cultural conditions, cuttings in most of the 
establishments are taken from blooming plants during 
December, January and February. Some giowers still 
resort to the old way of growing them in flats until planting 
out, but most generally they are grown in pots. We pot 
our early propagated stock in 2 in. pots, then later shift 
them into 2}/^ in. We think it pays us to do this, as we get 
much stronger plants. Field planting is generally done 
the latter part of April and the first part of May. Where 
no watering is done in the field, the dust mulch is resorted 
to in dry weather, with very good lesults. Very few 
Carnations are grown indoors during the Summer, in fact 
none in the immediate vicinity of St. Louis. This mode is 



CARNATIONS IN ILLINOIS I35 

followed on a small scale north of the central part of 
Illinois, where also the carrying over of stock for a second 
year is practised, but the latter is very hmited even as far 
north as Chicago. The lack of either of these methods of 
culture around St. Louis is due mainly to the extremely hot 
weather during the Summer months. The Summers of 
1913 and 1914 were so hot and dry that culture out in the 
field was carried on under the most trying conditions, and 
plants housed during the Fall were only about half grown. 
This had a tendency to make Carnation growling in this 
section unsatisfactory. 

The stock is usually planted in the houses during the 
month of August. The bench and solid bed culture are 
both employed. Bench culture predominates and probably 
is the most profitable. On our own place we have just 
resorted to solid bed culture, and we will not be in a position 
to say positively which is the most profitable way, bench or 
bed culture, until w^e have two seasons' records complete. 
One thing is certain about the Carnation in this section of 
the country: the average price received must increase over 
what it has stood at in the past few years, or some cheaper 
mode of culture must be found in order to make a living 
profit out of Carnation blooms. This is a bold statement 
to make, yet we have in mind a complete record from 
several successful firms contributing to the wholesale 
market for the past three years. 

THE CHICAGO AND ILLINOIS REGION 

To give an accurate estimate of the number of Carna" 
tion plants grown in this region is beyond the ability of 
the writer, but when consideration is taken of the vast 
territory that to a great extent depends on this section as 



136 



CARNATIONS IN ILLINOIS 



its supply center, some idea can be formed of the immense 
number of plants that is necessary to furnish flowers to 
supply the demand. 

There is no Carnation belt here, Carnations and Roses 
being the staple products of the growers, and while the 




Bloom of Peerless Pink, Natural Size 



actual figures as to the number of plants grown may be 
higher for the Rose, owing to the large area of glass devoted 
to its culture at the very large greenhouse establishments 
located in this section, yet there are many of the smaller 



CARNATIONS IN ILLINOIS I37 

establishments where Carnations are grown In greater 
quantity than Roses. The trade of the City of Chicago 
itself calls for a large daily supply, and in addition to this 
there Is the heavy shipping demand which comes from all 
over the Central States and as far south as New Orleans, 
west to Denver and the Rocky Mountain regions, north 
to Duluth into Canada to Winnipeg and beyond. 

A great deal of the p;roduct is handled on a commission 
basis by the wholesale florists in the city, but many of the 
largest growers maintain their own selhng quarters. Some 
there are who make a specialty of growing Carnations and 
ship their flowers direct to the retail stores throughout 
this section of the country. 

The flowers that are consigned to the wholesale 
florists to be sold on commission are mostly tied in bunches 
of twenty-five to facilitate handling. Those that are 
shipped direct to the retail stores are usually packed in a 
single layer in shallow wooden boxes, and a few growers 
take the extra care to get their flowers into the buyer's 
hands in the best possible condition by packing them 
in cardboard boxes which hold a layer of one hundred 
blooms. 

The varieties grown comprise most of the present-day 
standard ones with those of the Enchantress family leading, 
though it is the case here as elsewhere — some grower will 
have great success with some certain variety and grow It 
more extensively than any other. White Enchantress is 
the leading white, and White Wonder, which is gaining 
more in favor each season, a close second. White Per- 
fection seems to have been dropped entirely. It was for a 
Jong time the most popular white in this section. A few 
growers still grow some White Lawson on account of its 
good keeping and shipping qualities. Matchless is well 



138 CARNATIONS IN ILLINOIS 

thought of by most of the growers and will figure largely in 
the plantings another season. 

Dark pink or cerise has always been very popular in 
this part of the country. Tidal Wave, when at the height 
of its glory, was grown in greater numbers around Chicago 
than anywhere lese in the country. Cerise Queen, another 
old-timer, was also grown in quantity for a few years. When 
the variety Mrs. Thomas W. Lawson was introduced, all 
the other dark pinks passed away and Mrs. Lawson was the 
standard dark pink for a number of years and a few of 
them are still to be seen. Afterglow and Nelson Fisher, 
two others of this color, were thoroughly tried out but did 
not seem to gain the growers' favor and never became 
standard varieties here. Washington, the dark pink sport 
of Rose Pink Enchantress, is still grown but not in the 
quantity it was two or three years ago. Rosette, Peerless 
Pink, and Gorgeous are the leaders in this color at the 
present time. For flesh-pink, Enchantress and Enchantress 
Supreme are the varieties most generally grown. The 
growers of this region do not seem to be able to obtain the 
same success with Pink Delight as do the growers of the 
New England States. We are not able to get a plant large 
enough during our hot, dry Summer months for it to be as 
profitable as some of the other varieties, consequently the 
growers are letting it go. Daybreak, Mrs. McBurney, 
May Day, Mrs. Higginbotham and several others of this 
color that were popular in their day are now but memories. 

The leading red or scarlet varieties are Beacon, The 
Herald, Victory, Scarlet Glow and Champion. The last 
was a new comer in 191 4, has been well tried out, and bids 
fair to be the leader for a while. Nearly all of the long list 
of red varieties that were classed as standards in their day 
were prominent and grown in more or less quantity in this 



CARNATIONS IN ILLINOIS 



139 



region, among them being Portia, Garfield, Geo. H. Crane, 
The Stuart, Jubilee, Rob Craig and O. P. Bassett. 

The rose-pink varieties or those of a hghter shade of 
pink than Mrs. T. W. Lawson, that are now the most 




Gloriosa, Light Rose Pink 



140 CARNATIONS IN ILLINOIS 

prominent are Mrs. C. W. Ward and Gloriosa. When we 
take into consideration that the variety Philadelphia was a 
novelty in 1914, a large number were planted, but the grow- 
ers complained that it was not up to their expectations, 
and are growing less of it. A few Rose Pink Enchantress 
are still grown, but the one-time favorites of this color, 
namely, Wm. Scott, Argyle, Rose Queen, Mrs. Nelson, 
Winona, Mrs. Joost and Sangamo, have all disappeared. 

Benora is the only variety grown of the variegated 
type, and this not extensively. The demand for variegated 
Carnations is very hmited and of Jate years very few have 
been seen around this section. When the variety, Mrs. 
Geo. M. Bradt, was sent out it caught the growers' fancy 
so much that they stocked up with it rather heavily, con- 
sequently large numbers of all grades of quality were 
shipped in to the market and the buyers got tired of them, 
and from that time have been slow to handle variegated 
Carnations. Prosperity, another old-time variety with a 
different style of variegation, did not command the favor 
in this part of the country that it did in some others. 

The conditions regarding the variegated varieties also 
apply to yellows — very few are grown, but there used to be 
quite a number seen here. Buttercup, Eldorado, Gold- 
finch, Mayor Pingree and a few others had their time. 

Crimsons are grown in limited quantity, most of them 
being seedlings still in the hands of the raisers. The 
raising and disseminating of new varieties have been carried 
on quite extensively in this region. The Chicago Carna- 
tion Co., Joliet, III., during its business career was noted 
as a raiser of seedlings and as a disseminator of new varieties, 
having distributed more new Carnations than any other 
firm in this section. Of its own seedlings the following 
are the most prominent : Her Majesty, Mrs. Higginbotham, 



CARNATIONS IN ILLINOIS I4I 

Harlowarden, Conquest, The Herald, and Peerless Pink, 
together with Aviator, a red seedling which has not been 
sent out yet. This company was also the distributor of 
the varieties Fiancee and Afterglow. 

Bassett & Washburn, Chicago and Hinsdale, III., 
raised and sent out the variety O. P. Bassett, which was a 
very prominent exhibition variety in the red class. They 
now have another fine red variety named Belle Washburn 
to be disseminated early in 191 6. This firm is also noted 
for the high grade of Carnations it grows. 

The Thompson Carnation Co., Johet, III., makes a 
specialty of growing fancy Carnations, most of the cut being 
shipped direct to the retail stores. A regular list of satisfied 
customers year in and year out speaks welJ of the quahty 
of stock grown at this estabhshment. 

Defiance, Mrs. J. C. Vaughan, PhyHis, Lady Margaret, 
and Mount Greenwood, seedlings raised by W. N. Rudd at 
the greenhouses of the Mount Greenwood Cemetery Asso- 
ciation, Morgan Park, Chicago, were varieties that, when 
in their prime, were very popular on the Chicago market. 
The Mount Greenwood Cemetery Association is now grow- 
ing a number of seedfings which figure largely in the daily 
shipments to Chicago. 

Poehlmann Bros. Co., Chicago and Morton Grove, 
IIL, has the largest area of glass devoted to Carnation 
growing. This company, too, is noted for the high quafity 
of the stock it grows, and tests most of the new varieties in 
large quantity the year they are sent out. The rooted 
cutting business of this firm is also of tremendous propor- 
tions. 

Wietor Bros., Chicago, are also growers of large 
quantities of Carnations for cut flowers, as well as doing 
an extensive business in rooted cuttings Peter Reinberg's 



142 CARNATIONS IN ILLINOIS 

is another of the very large estabhshments around Chicago 
that grow many thousands of Carnations both for cut 
flowers and rooted cutting trade, while Emil Buettner, 
Park Ridge, IlL, has long been noted for the very high 
quahty of the stock grown in his place. 

The climatic conditions of this region vary somewhat, 
according to the location. Around Chicago near Lake 
Michigan the days and nights during the Summer are 
cooler than the more inland parts of the State. The rain- 
fall during the Summer is usually ample for the plants' 
needs during the time they are in the field. The period 
from April 20 to May 15 is the time the young stock is 
planted out, and from this time on to the middle of June 
we generally have abundant rains to thoroughly establish 
the young plants so that they are well able to withstand 
the hot dry weather later on. 

The question of watering the plants during the season 
they are in the field has long been a question in the minds of 
the growers. Some of the growers of this section favor 
watering during the hot, dry weather, while there are 
others with just the opposite view and resort to frequent 
surface cultivation to preserve the moisture at the plants' 
roots. We are following the latter method and have not 
watered the plants during the time they are in the field foi 
many seasons. We used to think it best for the plants to 
keep the ground moist, and if it showed the least dryness 
turn on the water and then allow the plants to remain out in 
the field as late as the month of September so as to get as 
big plants as possible, but we soon found that these large 
plants, planted at this late date, did not have time to get 
enough control of the soil to produce long stemmed fancy 
flowers before very late in the season, the blooms of the 
first three months being mainly small, with short stems. 



CARNATIONS IN ILLINOIS 



143 



The following is a summary of the cultural methods 
which, according to the experience of the writer, are best 
suited to produce the best results in this region: Take the 
cuttings during the months of January and February, and 
as soon as they have made a nice bunch of roots pot them 
up into 23/^-in. pots, using a live, fresh soil, incUned to a 




Bloom of Princess Dagmar, Very Dark Crimson 



loamy nature, and containing very Httle manure. The 
reason of this is to promote a sturdy, robust growth without 
any degree of softness. After potting give them a light 
place where they can be treated to a cool temperature with 
air on every favorable occasion. As the young plants grow 



144 CARNATIONS IN ILLINOIS 

along, the routine work of caring for them as regards water- 
ing, temperature, and keeping the insects in check, should 
receive close attention at all times. Attend to the topping 
as quickly as the growths lengthen out to allow for it to be 
done properly. This part of the work is of the utmost 
importance because the character of the plant in the future 
depends largely on the care with which this work is done in 
the early stages of the plant's growth. Topping should 
always be done with the object in view of encouraging the 
young plant to make a sturdy, bushy growth so that when 
the time comes for planting out we have a plant that has 
already commenced to branch out and is reasonably sure 
of making a good plant while in the field. 

The planting in the field is done the latter part of 
April or early in May. Directly after the planting is 
finished we go over the field with a hand cultivator to 
freshen up the surface. The growth of the plants during 
the first month is not very rapid owing to the cold, chilly 
weather we usually get, so that there is not much to do in 
caring for them till the weather warms, but as quickly as 
this happens the plants take on a very rapid growth, as do 
the weeds. We are not denied any of the weeds that are 
usually found in all parts of the country. We have our 
share and sometimes think a few more besides. It is a 
steady job keeping the land clean from the time the plants 
are set out until they are brought in again. 

By close attention to details, the plants are large 
enough by the 15th of July to think about bringing them 
inside, and after everything about the houses has been 
put in readiness we make the first planting about July 20. 

A good part of the soil in this region that has to be 
used for growing Carnations as well as every other green- 
house crop is the black loam of the prairies which, when 



CARNATIONS IN INDIANA AND OHIO I45 

used alone, sours quickly, but by adding a small part of 
light clay soil to open it, it is improved greatly. 

After the plants are transferred to the greenhouse and 
get well hold of the soil the shoots are kept topped back for 
another month to six weeks, according to the variety, and 
the time the flowers are most needed. Varieties of the 
same fast growth as Beacon can be topped back as late as 
the latter part of September and be in full crop by Decem- 
ber I. Then, again, varieties of slow growth similar to 
Rosette must not be pinched close after August, or the 
plants will be very late in producing their best crop of 
flowers. 

The general routine of the work in caring for the plants 
after everything has been attended to in connection with 
the planting, stringing, wiring and starting them well on 
their Winter's work is the same here as in other parts of the 
country. We allow a night temperature of 50 to 52 deg., 
and on cloudy days 56 to 58 deg., and when the sun is 
bright enough to warm up the houses so that we can dis- 
pense with some of the steam heat we allow the temperature 
to run up to 6^ deg. during the middle of the day, opening 
the ventilators according to the condition of the weather, 
guarding at all times against cold draughts striking the 
plants. 

IN INDIANA AND OHIO 

These States have been the particular stronghold of 
notable raisers of Carnations for so many years, and such 
large quantities of blooms are grown for market by the many 
growers in this area, that is has been called the ''Carnation 
belt." The names of the Dorners, the Hills, Richard 
Witterstaetter, John Hartje, W. W. Coles, Fred A. Lemon, 
A. F. J. Baur of Baur & Steinkamp, John and Edward 



146 



CARNATIONS IN INDIANA AND OHIO 



Bertermann, J. M. Gasser, E. G. Gillett, and last, but not 
least for his influence on the spread of the love and knowl- 
edge of Carnations, L. L. Lamborn, are among those 




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that rise to one's mind in considering this particular rich 
section of the country. The earher pages of this book dis- 



CARNATIONS AT WASHINGTON, D. C. 147 

CUSS the work of some of these men, but it would require a 
volume in itself to exhaust and explain the part played by 
the Indiana and Ohio growers. 

From Toledo and Cleveland in the north, through 
Akron, Youngstown, Richmond, Columbus, Cincinnati, and 
westward to IndianapoHs, Terre Haute, etc., there is a 
regular chain of notable growers and of large Carnation 
establishments. The cultivation practices, however, are so 
similar to those already discussed by the writers representing 
Illinois and Missouri on the one hand, and Pennsylvania 
and New York on the other, that more is not called for in 
this connection. 

CARNATIONS AT WASHINGTON, D. C. 

In this quarter cuttings are taken in December. 
Propagate them in clean sand, and as soon as they are rooted 
pot them off into 2 in., afterward shifting them into 3 in. 
pots. In April, or as soon as possible thereafter, plant 
them out into the open field where they remain until 
July, when they are planted indoors and cared for under 
ordinary conditions. It has been found that the plan of 
planting them out into the field for several months is far 
preferable and more profitable than keeping them indoors 
all Summer. After a number of years of experience in 
growing Carnations, the writer has found, by keeping an 
accurate record of two houses of Carnations, each con- 
taining 9,000 plants growing side by side under the same 
conditions, that the following results were obtained: 
From plants placed out of doors and lifted in July and 
planted indoors, the average yield was twenty-three flowers 
per plant, while in the other house, planted with plants 
from 4 in. pots, which had not been out of doors at all, the 
average was fourteen flowers per plant. While the flowers 



148 CARNATIONS IN PENNSYLVANIA 

from those cared for the year round indooT's seemed to be 
larger and stronger, the difference in price and quality is 
not sufficient to balance the more than one-third larger 
crop of those planted outdoors. From practical experience 
it is found that it pays, no matter how great the cost, to 
plant Carnations in absolutely new soil each season and 
not to try to plant them in the same soil one season after 
another. Some growers feel convinced that stem rot is 
largely produced by the soil being used too often for Carna- 
tions. The soil used is a sandy loam to which is added a 
liberal amount of cow and stable nranure. The local soil 
is rough and difficult to handle as compared with other 
sections of the .country. Then during the season lime is 
used, with bonemeal and sheep manure liberally. Carna- 
tions are grown both in solid beds and on benches in Gude's 
establishment, but the company is undecided as to which 
is more profitable, but is inclined to favor solid beds, 
because not only do they get as many flowers from solid 
beds, but the blooms also seem to be stronger and are 
more easily cared for in warm weather. It should be 
stated, however, that in speaking of solid beds, these 
particular Carnation houses are mostly on hillsides where 
one bench is above the other, thereby getting the full 
benefit of the sunlight, and also very good drainage, both 
of which are essential in Carnation growing, and the hill- 
side solid beds have the advantage over the flat ground. 

CARNATIONS IN PENNSYLVANIA 

Carnations are principally grown in the eastern and 
western extremes, with only a nominal number grown in 
the center of the State. Pittsburgh, as a market and 
shipping center, has a number of good growers within easy 



CARNATIONS IN PENNSYLVANIA I49 

shipping distance. The largest of these is the Pittsburgh 
Cut Flower Co.'s place at Bakerstown, where Carnations 
are grown to exhibition standard and novelties are tried 
out here under the best growing conditions. Pittsburgh 
is fortunate in having a number of smaller growers who 
produce good stock. 

In central Pennsylvania there are not many large 
growers, but quite a number of Carnations are grown for 
local trade. There is no reason why a good commission 
house should not locate at Harrisburg and reach a number 
of points that are not now properl;^ covered. As Carnation 
selhng points, this would open up a section for growing that 
is now neglected. Philadelphia is, of course, the largest 
and most important market for Carnations in the State, 
and consequently has a large number of growers producing 
for it, Chtster and Lancaster counties both being heavy 
shippers to Philadelphia. The Weiss Bros, of Hatboro 
are the largest growers of Carnations as a specialty locally 
for Philadelphia. Throughout Chester and Lancaster 
counties a number of growers depend for their livelihood 
upon Carnations exclusively. 

On account of the ever changing novelties introduced 
in the Carnation world, it is hard to name the varieties 
that are grown, but the man who does not specialize too 
strongly will have in his place Rose Pink Enchantress. 
White Enchantress, Enchantress proper, Enchantress 
Supreme and either White Wonder or White Perfection, 
along with Beacon and Mrs. C. W. Ward. 

There is a strong tendency to specialize in one variety, 
and many growers are getting down to these varieties, 
with the possibility of growing only one. This is the 
part of wisdom where one special variety has demonstrated 
its fitness for the houses, cultural methods, and soil of the 



150 CARNATIONS IN PENNSYLVANIA 

grower, the only danger being that in the event of one of 
those unaccountable failures that sometimes happen, the 
grower would find himself without a means of income. 
Pennsylvania growers are fully ahve to the advantages of 
trying out new varieties, and there is hardly a novelty that 
will not be found in one or other of the growers' houses. 

Hybridizing has not been carried on to any great 
extent since the days of Chas. Starr and his associates 
among the Chester County growers, but there are a number 
of workers in a small way who grow from fifty to a hundred 
seedlings each season without having developed anything 
wonderful, or perhaps without the necessary push to get 
them in the market. 

The type of houses for the growing of Carnations in 
Pennsylvania is the same as is adopted in other sections, 
and all over the State we find the modern house sometimes 
covering benches of inferior varieties, but generally showing 
their value in the quality of blooms produced. A few 
growers yet stick to the butted glass construction, but the 
tendency seems to be toward lapped glass bedded in puttv. 

The majority of the Pennsylvania growers have been 
using a solid bed form of culture, some with their beds 
directly on the natural ground on which their houses were 
built, others with made beds built up about 20 in. from the 
ground, with concrete or brick sides, about a foot of ashes 
or broken stone for drainage, and the soil on top of this to 
the depth of some 5 in. These beds give an excellent growth 
and much longer stemmed flowers than the ordinary 
bench, but are a little slower in production during the early 
Winter months, and on this account are in many places 
being discarded for benches. Both systems can be found 
to give money-making results, the soil and the personality 
of the grower both having much to do in the matter. 



CARNATIONS IN PENNSYLVANIA 



151 




152 CARNATIONS IN NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY 

Summer planting of the houses is practised to a very 
limited extent in Pennsylvania, but they are being planted 
earher each season, and the average rule is to put the 
plants in the field between April 15 and May i, according 
to location, and give them intensive field culture until the 
latter part of July or early August, when they are housed. 
The treatment in the houses is about the same as anywhere 
else in the United States. 

For fertihzers, in preparing the soil, stable manure and 
sod are the chief ingredients, with bonemeal and in some 
localities lime, added in small quantities. After planting, 
sheep manure has become almost the universal fertilizer 
adopted, with here and there an experiment with chemical 
fertilizers, in some cases to the serious detriment of the 
crop. 

To sum the whole matter up, Pennsylvania, while not 
surpassing the sections surrounding Chicago, New York and 
Boston, is nevertheless always to be taken seriously into 
account when Carnations are under consideration, and in the 
history of the Carnation is the keystone State of them all. 

CARNATIONS IN NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY 

The business of Carnation growing in this quarter 
has assumed large proportions in late years, and constantly 
increasing areas of glass are devoted to this favorite flower 
of multitudes of people, many of the greenhouses thus 
utilized being of the most modern and complete con- 
struction. The enormous population of the five boroughs 
comprising the city of New York provides an outlet for 
vast quantities of flowers, and while the market is variable 
and gluts sometimes occur, yet the growers continue to be 
hopeful, and to plant Carnations in ever increasing numbers. 



CARNATIONS IN NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY 1 53 

A large portion of the Carnation blooms coming to 
the New York market from day to day are grown on Long 
Island, various parts of that fertile section being well adapted 
for the growth of these plants, and containing many large 
estabhshments that have been speciaHzing in this line for a 
number of years. Not a few of these establishments are 
located within the city limits, although the constantly 
increasing cost of doing business under these conditions is 
quite a serious matter to the growers, but it is also some 
advantage to be within easy driving distance of the market 
when there is any unusual demand for flowers. Others 
are within 50 to 75 miles of the metropolis, these, of course, 
depending on express shipments to get their product on 
sale. Hempstead, Baldwin, Patchogue and Blue Point 
are among the localities in which Carnations are grown 
extensively and well in the varying soils of Long Island, 
while over on the New Jersey side of the river there are 
also Carnation growers to help provide for the floral needs 
of New York, many of the New Jersey growers being found 
in the counties of Hudson, Bergen and Essex. 

In these various and somewhat scattered localities 
there are naturally considerable variations in soil, and this 
fact controls, in some measure, the choice of varieties that 
may be grown. The Enchantress types have been much 
favored, the original Enchantress having been everybody's 
Carnation for a number of years, though now largely super- 
seded by Enchantress Supreme. White Enchantress is 
also much esteemed for this market, and in the heavier 
soil sections it is the most satisfactory white for general 
purposes. In more sandy sections White Perfection and 
White W^onder seem to give the best results. Matchless 
has also made many friends among the New York growers, 
and will doubtless be planted in large numbers. In the 



154 CARNATIONS IN NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY 

dark pink group, Mrs. C. W. Ward has occupied the most 
prominent place for several years past, this being a home 
product, so to speak, and, with Matchless, has done much 
to add to the prestige of the Cottage Gardens Co. of Queens. 

Among the red varieties. Beacon has taken the lead 
for several years past, some of the Long Island growers 
being especially successful in its cultivation and producing 
enormous quantities of high-grade flowers throughout the 
season. Crimson Carnations are not demanded in very 
large quantities in New York market, and various varieties 
of that color are handled in moderate numbers, among them 
being Crimson Glow, Pocahontas and Harry Fenn. Benora 
is the most favored of the variegated sorts. 

In regard to culture, the majority of the growers of 
New York and New Jersey use the field method of prepara- 
tion for the young stock, planting out in the open ground 
during the latter part of April and the beginning of May, 
keeping the ground well cultivated and the plants properly 
cared for until the time arrives for planting in the green- 
houses, the date of the latter operation ranging from the 
20th of July to the 15th of August, according to the weather 
and the condition of the plants. 

Indoor culture all Summer is favored by a few growers, 
and has the advantage of producing longer flower stems 
early in the season, while the opponents of this method 
claim that not only do the plants so grow^n produce a less 
number of flowers, but that the constitution of a Carnation 
is debilitated by continuous indoor culture. That the net 
results of Carnation growing for the New York market 
recently have not been specially encouraging to the growers, 
will doubtless be admitted by most of them, the wholesale 
prices having been far from satisfactory in most instances. 
Whether this has been due to an oversupply, or whether 



CARNATIONS IN NEW ENGLAND 1 55 

the public Is tiring of the Divine Flower, or whether the 
European war affected the market, are among the problems 
not yet fully solved. 

IN NEW ENGLAND 

The New England growers form not such a large, as 
highly influential, body. The generally cooler conditions 
obtaining in this section, the fertile soil in parts of it, to- 
gether with the fact that herein are several millions of people 
and not only large industrial towns, calling for a regular 
supply of flowers, but many notable schools, colleges and at 
least two great universities, make it a growers' region. 

Boston, as a shipping center, covers not only the whole 
of New England, but also a large part of Canada from 
Ottawa eastward. 

The Summer climate of Maine is so agreeable and suit- 
able that Carnations are grown continuously for cut bloom, 
much of which is disposed of to Summer residents. The 
Strout firm at Biddeford carries over its crop for two, and 
even three, years without apparent stress to the plants. 
This, however, is exceptional, as in nearly all other estab- 
lishments around Boston and south thereof, the crop is 
raised annually in large modern structures, and while most 
employ the raised benches, there are exceptions, and magni- 
ficent flowers are got from at least one champion grower 
who employs the solid bench. 

In this region too, a keen enthusiasm exists in the rais- 
ing of novelties, at the head of the introducers of which, by 
a long way, stands Peter Fisher. Of recent years the veter- 
an A. Roper has also exhibited some excellent varieties, 
while as competitors at the shows or as large growers of 
Carnations for cut blooms or for the sale of rooted cuttings, 
the names of the A. N. Pierson, Inc., F. B. Putnam, M. A. 



156 CARNATIONS IN CANADA 

Patten, J. A. Nelson, W. H. Elliott, A. A. Pembroke, 
Littlefield and Wyman, W. Nicholson, and the ex-president 
of the A. C. S., S. J. Goddard, stand out prominently. 

No finer flowers are produced anywhere than those of 
New England. The general cultural routine is almost iden- 
tical to that outlined for the New York and Chicago regions. 
In the chmate of New England, the growers have something 
for which they should be grateful. 

CARNATIONS IN ONTARIO 

It is nothing short of astonishing, the progress horti- 
culture, and therefore flower cultivation, is making in large 
Canadian cities and their surroundings, and the Carnation 
is an almost equal first in popular favor with the Rose 
itself. No evidences exist of any decline, but instead, a 
steadily increasing output, with the greatest desire to acquire 
the most approved of novelties likely to win all-round 
popularity. Since the first flowers were produced for sale, 
acre upon acre of glass ranges have been erected to grow 
about entirely the Rose and the Carnation for the Canadian 
markets. 

The queen city of Canada, Toronto, has in its environs 
three great estabhshments given to the growing of flowers 
for market: those of Mr. Dunlop, at Richmond Hill; Mr. 
Lawrence, in the same quiet little town, and Mr. MiUer to 
the immediate north of the city. And no one interested in 
the cultivation of flowers under glass should visit Toronto 
without seeking out Brampton, a thriving town about twen- 
ty-five miles west, and reached by a good service of trains. 
Here are located the famous Dale Estate nurseries. No 
less than 1,250,000 square feet of glass comprise this oasis 
of flower culture. It was about the year 1880 that the late 



CARNATIONS IN CANADA 



157 



Henry Dale got together a few seedlings from growers in 
the United States, the names of which are now unknown, 
and began growing the plants in pots. Five years later 
began the great change in methods of cultivation, which 




Typical Bloom of Winsor 



revolutionized the whole system practically of commercial 
horticulture in this country, that of transferring the Carna- 
tions from pots to beds. 

It is mere repetition to enter into cultural details, so 
much having been said elsewhere in this book. 



CHAPTER VII 



American Carnations in Europe 

In France, comparatively few Perpetual Flowering 
Carnations of the American type were grown until within 
a year or two ago, but the stock has been rapidly increased. 
The few growers who cultivate them in the north and center 
of France are, or were before the war, managing to get their 
francs at a pretty good pace, for the pi ice realized for good 
quahty flowers was tempting. The growers employ 
nearly always the bench system as adopted from England 
and America. 

In the south of France and north Italy, the part gen- 
erally known as the Riviera, probably the original home of 
the Carnation, quite a different system is adopted. In 
the low lying dist'-icts of Antibes and similar locations, the 
Carnations are rooted in coldframes during November to 
January; from thei'e they are transplanted into other 
frames, and during May to June they are shifted to their 
permanent quarters in land that has previously been 
trenched to a depth of from two to four feet. The fol- 
lowing November they are covered with greenhouses, 
roughly constructed out of lights. These houses are never 
heated, but occasionally, when the weather is very cold, they 
are covered with straw mats. This seems a primitive sys- 
tem of growing the " Divine Flower," yet it is not the 
most primitive by any means. 

For primitiveness they certainly take the prize in the 
Italian Riviera. Here are millions of Carnations grown 



AMERICAN CARNATIONS IN GERMANY 1 59 

without ever being covered by glass; even the humble 
straw mat is a luxury. The only covering they ever get 
is a little canvas, under which the cuttings are rooted during 
November to January. Here, no doubt, the growers have 
managed to get their francs, and live very easily indeed in 
the past, and are still doing so; but the demand for quahty 
is increasing, and some of our friends in that part of the 
world will have to change their methods before many years 
are gone, or they will be left behind in the race. 

The Carnation men in the Fatherland, as might be 
expected, had to test a few inventions of their own, and 
they tried to improve a little on the best American methods, 
at least as far as the building by-law^s would permit them. 
If one wants to build a greenhouse in Germany, it is neces- 
sary to have the plans passed by a highly qualified architect, 
who will certainly not pass the plans until he has duly 
calculated that the roof of the house w^ll stand the re- 
quired pressure per square inch, that there is every protec- 
tion in case of fire, and numerous other points. The result 
of all this is sometimes a very queer looking construction, 
and always a very expensively built house. 

A further German specialty is the so-called " raw 
glass," with which quite half of the existing Carnation 
houses are covered. This is a thick, unpolished plate glass, 
as we see it frequently on roofs of railway stations and 
similar buildings. It is used because it saves firing during 
the Winter, and it saves also a lot of breakage; but how 
about the light during the Winter months ? This, the 
most important point of all, has evidently been overlooked 
by the scientific grower; the Carnations have not over- 
looked it though. 

Yet, in spite of it all, our German friends are doing 
very comfortably out of Carnation growing, and are making 



l6o AMERICAN CARNATIONS IN ENGLAND 

their marks without much difficulty, for they are in the 
happy position that up to the present the demand, during 
the greater part of the year, is far ahead of the supply, 
consequently they have been enabled to form a society 
among themselves which fixes the prices of flowers and 
plants from time to time, and these prices are such that 
the margin of profit is a very substantial one. 

THE AMERICAN CARNATION IN ENGLAND 

The cultivation of the American Carnation, which is 
styled in England the Perpetual Flowering Carnation, 
has made greater strides upon the markets there than any 
other flower, and today holds precedence in Covent Garden 
Market, London. It is also interesting to note that Eng- 
land supplies the best Carnations sold in Paris and other 
Continental cities (or did until the war), while every 
wholesale market throughout the British Isles has its daily 
supply of Carnation blooms. The important part of this 
is that the development of the flower over there has taken 
place during the past ten years. 

The main difference between Carnation growing in 
England and America is that American growers obtain 
approximately one-third more blooms per plant in a year. 
Naturally, the American can produce blooms at practi- 
cally half the price that the English grower can. The 
average cut per plant in England is, say, twelve blooms, 
but many growers must content themselves with a lesser 
quantity. It is now becoming a common practice to run 
the plants on for two years, and, of course, during the 
second season almost double the crop is obtained, but it is 
questionable whether the quality of bloom is quite as good 
the second year. This, to some extent, depends upon the 



AMERICAN CARNATIONS IN ENGLAND l6l 

variety, but we are inclined to think that if more care and 
attention were given during the Summer months, better 
crops would be obtained. 

As every American grower will understand, there is a 
great deal of difference in the climates. The Briton envies 
the American his brighter Winter light, and the American 
may envy the Briton his moist Summer heat. During the 
Winter months it is very seldom they get, in the south of 
England, over 20 degrees of frost, and we doubt if it is on 
record when a zero temperature has occured in the county 
of Sussex. If the English had a colder Winter it would 
help them considerably, because they would use more fire 
heat and so dry out the houses, whereas with a warm, damp, 
dull atmosphere, they have no opportunity of doing this, 
hence the growth of the plants becomes soft, and no watering 
is required in Midwinter for, say, five weeks. The details 
of attention to the plants are practically the same as in 
America during the Spring, Summer and Autumn, but the 
Winters are entirely different. 

The best modern English greenhouses are very similar 
to those of American growers, in fact they are imitations. 
Perhaps the main difference is that there is more ironwork 
in American houses, but then the English ones work out at 
a considerably cheaper figure, and the ironwork is not so 
necessary there, as not much snow falls neither do 
they get the heavy frosts. The method of heating is 
very similar in both countries except that it is not necessary 
to have the same quantity of pipes in England, and the 
majority are 3 in. or 4 in. pipes. Steam heating is practi- 
cally unknown. Perhaps the overhead heating system is 
of the greatest advantage to the English grower, because 
in Winter it dries up the atmosphere. The old-style cast- 
iron saddle boiler was popular years ago, then the cast-iron 




Perpetual-Flowering Malmaison Carnation 

Some of the English raisers have been successful in introducing a 

race of very large flowered Carnations the result of crossing the 

Perpetual or American type with the Malmaison. Added to 

size of bloom are vigor, continuity and rich fragrance 



AMERICAN CARNATIONS IN ENGLAND 163 

tubular boiler, but the sectional boiler now holds sway, and 
they are very similar to the sectional boilers used in Amer- 
ica, although generally not so large. Forced circulation is 
an innovation which many growers are experimenting with. 
The system of culture most favored in England is to 
propagate during December, January and February, putting 
the cuttings into the sand in the usual way. When rooted, 
they are then potted into 2 in., and afterward into 3 in. or 
^}/2 in- pots, and as a rule are planted out in the benches 
from this size pot in April or May, but if planted later, are 
generally put into a 5 in. pot in the meantime. Very few 
growers follow the system of planting out in the fields 
during the Spring, then hfting and planting in the houses 
in the Summer. With the uncertainty of the Enghsh 
chmate it has not been very successful. In dull weather 
the plants do not establish themselves well, and produce 
flowers of very indifl^erent quality. Raised benches are 
adopted by the growers who have very cold, wet soil, but 
the majority favor solid benches. It is quite an erroneous 
idea that most of the English Carnations are grown in pots. 
This would have been true ten years ago, but it is not so 
today. Some of the growers favor pots, and use those of 
about 6 in. in diameter, and the plants are supported 
by a network of string and wire, the same as followed in 
the bench system. Many of these growers leave the 
plants in their pots for the second year, but after the 
first year the flowers are never of such good quality. Some 
of the smaller growers have the old-fashioned low span 
houses; they do not say these houses are better, but simply 
that the houses were there before Carnations became so 
popular, and it is quite surprising the good results many 
of them obtain, but nearly all have fitted the overhead 
pipes for heating. 



164 AMERICAN CARNATIONS IN ENGLAND 

Of course, watering is done with a hose pipe, and many 
feed their plants through the hose. 

The marketing of the blooms is an important matter. 
The highest grade of stock is termed " Specials." These 
blooms are perfect in every detail. Two dozen blooms are 
packed in a long, wooden box, these are sent to the com- 
mission agent, and if the grower is known to be reliable, 
the boxes are not opened until the retailer has them. The 
next quahty of blooms is termed " Firsts." Many growers 
bunch these in dozens and send twelve dozen in a box to the 
commission agent. Naturally, the " Specials " find their 
way to the high-class florists' shops, and the *' Firsts " to 
second-rate shops for general floral work, and to the street 
hawker or peddler. In Winter, quite three parts of the 
stock produced in England is second quahty bloom. It is 
only the special growers who produce the selected stock. 
But it pays to grow only " Specials " as far as possible. 
One may not get quite so many blooms per square yard of 
bench, but quahty pays best. 

One of the main reasons why the Carnation is becoming 
so popular in England is its great lasting quahties, and it 
behooves the growers to maintain or improve this quality. 
Many ladies remark that good blooms often last some six 
weeks when cut, and while the flower can maintain this 
reputation, it must make progress. 

Competition at the exhibitions is remarkably keen. 
There is no detail in the floral art which is neglected. As 
many as 300 dozen blooms may be used, the decorative 
exhibit covering a space of about 225 sq. ft. 

PubHc taste in colors is much broader than in America, 
and the cry in the leading markets is for a bigger assortment, 
yet quite half the most popular varieties are of American 
origin. In whites. White Wonder and White Enchantress 



AMERICAN CARNATIONS IN ENGLAND 



165 



f ¥ J 




l66 AMERICAN CARNATIONS IN ENGLAND 

are the two most commonly grown, but Wivelsfield White 
promises to become a serious rival, as it is more productive 
than either of the varieties mentioned. It has a strong 
strain of American blood in it. In the light pink class, 
Enchantress and May Day are reckoned to be the two best 
varieties of American origin, but Lady Northcliff and 
Salmon Enchantress are exceedingly popular English intro- 
ductions. In dark pinks. Rose Pink Enchantress, Rosette, 
and Mrs. C. W. Ward are the most popular American-raised 
varieties, but Mary Allwood, the English variety of recent 
introduction, is outclassing them. As to reds, there is a 
great deal of controversy. Some claim that Scarlet Glow 
is the best variety of American origin, while the new variety 
Champion has a great many followers, but the growers 
have yet to fmd a variety which yields good flowers in 
plenty for the Christmas market, and this is what all 
Carnation speciaHsts there are striving for. The prices 
for red flowers at Christmas are very good indeed. Of 
crimsons the most popular is undoubtedly the new Princess 
Dagmar, and this is proving a great success. It is making 
the EngHsh varieties Carola and Triumph strain to keep 
their places. 

The British growers never understand why Americans 
do not encourage the heUotrope colored varieties. The 
three best of this shade are Fairmount, Mikado, and the 
new Bishton Wonder. 

Regarding yellows and fancies, there is not much call 
for these, and it is doubtful whether it pays a market grower 
to touch them. 

A new class that might be very popular in America is 
a cross between the American Carnation and the old 
Souvenir de la Malmaison, known in England as Per- 
petual Flowering Malmaisons. These plants produce 



AMERICAN CARNATIONS IN ENGLAND 167 

magnificent blooms, sometimes measuring between 6 in., 
and 7 in. in diameter. The leading varieties in this class 
are Albino, Exquisite, Lady Millar, Mrs. C. F. Raphael, 
Mrs. Gott and Majestic. They produce an average of 
nine blooms per plant in the course of a year, and in America 
a good salesman would have no difficulty in getting a tall 
price fo** each of the blooms. American ladies at English 
shows always greatly admire them and say they are 
confident they would sell very well in the United States. 




CHAPTER VIII 



The American Carnation as an Outdoor Bedding 

Plant 

Although not very widely used as a plant for Summer 
bedding, the American Carnation is still a useful subject, 
particularly in the cooler sections of the East and North- 
west. To get plants for this purpose some growers advise 
striking the cuttings early in January in order to get nice 
plants by the month of April. These are pinched once and 
let come right into flower. The blooms may be small, 
but they are very useful for decorative purposes. Whether 
old plants from the benches could be successfully trans- 
ferred out of doors is problematical; possibly this could be 
done if extreme care were taken. Another method that 
has been employed with success is to strike the cuttings in 
July or August, plant them in a frame, and carry them over 
the Winter; remove the frame and let them bloom there the 
following Summer. Of course, sufficient space has to be 
given to the young plants to allow them full development, 
and feeding, mulching and watering would have to be 
attended to regularly. 

In recent years in England the American Carnation 
has become a great favorite for bedding out of doors for 
Summer flowering. A Carnation grower in England natur- 
ally associates his plants with the land of their origin, and 
in Midwinter, when he scarcely catches sight of the sun for 
weeks together, he sighs and wishes he could turn on a few 
hours of that indispensable sunlight which is more abundant 



THE AMERICAN CARNATION AS A BEDDING PLANT 169 

in America. In Summer, however, when he reads of the 
frequent heat waves in the United States, he thanks his 
stars that he has not to contend with this extreme of 
climate. 

When the right kind of plants have been employed, 
and planted at the proper season, the American Carnation 
has been quite satisfactory in the British Isles for Summer 
bedding. There it is called the Perpetual Flowering Carna- 
tion because it can be had in flower all the year round in 
spite of dull climate. 

The best stock to employ for bedding is that which is 
elongating for flower about the end of April. One propa- 
gates the plants late in May, stops them twice, the second 
time being in September or October, and they are wintered 
in a cold greenhouse or frame. They winter well even in 
unheated frames; in fact, a plant which has been as dormant 
as possible throughout the Winter is preferred. Occasion- 
ally the plants are killed if left out of doors in severe Win- 
ters, even in the southern parts of Britain. 

The Perpetual Flowering Carnation Society some years 
ago conducted trials with a view to discovering the best 
type of plant to use, and other facts. It is not always 
known to amateurs that ordinary young stock is not suit- 
able for bedding purposes, although the comparative 
cheapness of the plants may tempt many people to plant 
them. Of course, early rooted plants stopped once may be 
had in flower late in Summer, but the difference between 
this class of stock and a bushy plant which commences to 
flower in May or June is very marked. 

British market growers lack what American growers 
have — the public which pays such substantial prices for 
cut flowers; but, on the other hand, the British amateur is 
an asset in another way — he is a keen gardener. Certainly 



1 70 THE AMERICAN CARNATION AS A BEDDING PLANT 

he has his fads, but since he does not mind paying for 
these, the grower is the gainer. There exist in England 
fanciers of another kind of Carnation, a strain which has 
been selected not for the habit of its growth, but rather 
because of the form of the flower and the rounded petal — 
the Border Carnations. But these will probably be ousted 
by the American or Perpetual Carnation, because the latter 
produces more flowers and may be bedded out later than 
the so-called Border varieties and the American varieties 
form good material to follow early bulbs or Wallflowers. 
Further, the Border strain of round petaled Carnations 
only throws one crop of flowers a year, in July. 

The cardinal points to observe in the cultivation of the 
American Perpetual Carnation for border work are, firstly, 
to secure suitable stock of the class indicated, and plant as 
early as possible after risk of serious frosts is passed (in 
England one may figure this as end of April; in Scotland in 
May). Thus the plants are established before Summer 
droughts — which sometimes come — can menace the well- 
being of the plants. Naturally no good cultivator would 
omit to dig his beds well and manure them according to 
needs, before planting operations commence. 

" A stitch in time saves nine," so with reference to 
tying it is far better to have all shoots well secured to a 
center stake at the time of planting. A distance of a foot 
between the plants allows room for a small Dutch push hoe, 
which is employed frequently to scarify the soil. The 
value of this tool to induce the plants to root readily is very 
considerable. 

Where the Border kinds are preferred, these can be 
utilized very profitably. Their treatment from seed or 
layers is discussed a few pages later, but the illustration on 
the next page will help to emphasize the fact that excellent 



THE CARNATION AS A BEDDING PLANT 



171 



floriferous plants can readily be had from seeds. The 
plant here shown was raised in this way. The Marguerite 
and true annual kinds, like the varieties of Dianthus 




Copyriyht 



Sutton <fc SoiLf! 



Bedding Carnations Raised From Seed 



chinensis, are also used for beds and bo^^ders. Good selec- 
tions make a fine show when effectively massed. 



CHAPTER IX 



The Malmaison Carnation 

This beautiful flower is cultivated in most private 
establishments in European countries, where it is an 
important subject. In America, however, it is much 
neglected and but seldom seen. The usual time of flower- 
ing is from June to August. It is possible, however, to 
have it in bloom much earher, but it is a difficult and 
risky practice, often resulting in the loss of many plants 
and weakening the constitution of the remainder. The 
Enghsh " Garden Manual " says that the proper and best 
time to propagate is in July and August, or as soon as the 
plants have passed out of flower. If the growths are soft, 
caused by shading heavily, stand the plants outside for a 
few days before commencing to layer. An ordinary cold- 
frame should be chosen for this operation, not too deep, 
with an ordinary soil bottom. Violet frames are very 
suitable for this purpose. Cover the surface with about 
3 in. of finely sifted loam, leaf mold and sand, and make 
it moderately firm. Choose good, healthy plants, and 
strip them of the foliage so as to leave the intended layer 
about 5 in. long. Knock the plants out of their pots and 
plunge them in the frame; the layering process can then 
easily be carried out. Keep the frame closed for a few days, 
and shade the plants from strong sunshine. It will take 
about three weeks to a month to root, after which air 
should be freely admitted. 

A few days before potting it will be found very bene- 



MALMAISON CARNATIONS 



173 




House of Mai.maison Carnations in June 



174 MALMAISON CARNATIONS 

ficial to sever the layers from the parent plant. A suitable 
compost for the first potting consists of two parts of loam, 
one part leaf mold and sand; 3 in. pots are generally 
used. Stand the newly potted plants in a coldframe, keep- 
ing the latter closed for a few days until the Malmaisons 
are estabhshed, then gradually admit air, finally removing 
the sashes in favorable weather. About the first week in 
October they will be ready for potting on into 6 in. pots, 
using a rougher compost than the one previous. We have 
found the following very suitable: Two parts good fil^rous 
loam, one part leaf mold, sand and wood ashes. Pot 
firmly, taking great care not to bury the base of the stem. 
Watering will call for minute attention at this season of the 
year, when the plants commence to enter into the dormant 
state. During the Winter months they should be kept 
close to the glass in Hght, airy houses at a temperature of 
50 deg. Ventilate on favorable occasions. As the Spring 
advances and the plants are growing freely, more water 
will be required; feeding can also be commenced, using soot 
water and liquid manure. Each plant will need to be 
staked and kept scrupulously clean; aphis allowed to 
remain for even a couple of days will do irretrievable harm. 
When the buds commence to burst and show color they 
should be shaded, otherwise many flowers will be spoiled 
by the sun. As the buds are opening it will be found 
very beneficial to syringe among the pots on warm, bright 
days. 

Plants intended for growing on for the second year will 
require potting up as soon as they have passed out of flower. 
Stake each growth carefully so as to give the plant a neat 
and shapely appearance. The following are a few varieties 
we consider worthy of cultivation: Princess of Wales and 
the old Blush, two of the best and most popular; Nell 



MALMAISON CARNATIONS 



175 



Gwynne, the only pure white; Lady Coventry, a most 
excellent variety, and easy to grow, nearly a coral red; 
Baldwin, rose pink, early flowering; Calypso, a soft flesh 
pink; Duchess of Westminster, saJmon rose; Maggie 
Hodgson, a rich, deep crimson, very richly scented. 




CHAPTER X 



Border and Annual Carnations and Pinks 

It seems stiange that with so many gardeners and 
florists from the old countries settled among us, the Border 
type of Carnation as grown in Europe is not taken up here. 
There is much gorgeousness in the finest varieties of this 
type in its several sections, whether fancies, selfs, flaked or 
edged, as in the Picotees. The flakes are the least grown of 
any, even in the European countries, but the fancies when 
at their best have absolutely nothing to surpass them; 
they are large, sohd, handsome and most richly colored. 
An exhibition of them, dressed as they are and supported 
with paper collars, is a sight to marvel at and never to 
be forgotten. 

In the southern half of England, and doubtless in the 
greater part of France, the Border Carnation is hardy. 
The stock is usually propagated by layers, as shown in 
the accompanying diagram. These layers are taken late 
in July or early in August. A cut is made half way through 
a joint, which is kept open by being bent into the soil and 
pegged down. A sandy soil is used, and is rounded up 
firmly over the layer, which roots in a few weeks; it can 
then be severed from the parent stem and transplanted to 
frames, or be potted and kept in coldframes, covered with 
mats in the hardest weather in Winter. In April, or even 
earlier, these plants are set out. Wherever the situation 
is sufficiently mild, good, sturdy plants may be set out in 
the Autumn, and will come through any Winter where 



BORDER CARNATIONS I 77 

the frost does not exceed about 2^ to 28 degrees Fahr. 
These Border Carnations flower mainly in July and August, 
and require staking the same as Perpetuals. Wire coil 
stakes or light bamboo or similar wooden stakes are used, 




From The Garden Manual 

Border Carnations Propagated by Layering 

the stems being tied with raffia. A light, rich, well drained 
soil is the desideratum. 

The plants can also be raised with great success from 
seeds sown out-doors in June, the young plants grown 



178 



BORDER CARNATIONS 



on or potted, and planted out early the next Spring, 
when they will flower in Midsummer. It should be noted 
that the less vigorous seedlings almost invariably give the 
best type of double flowers and represent the choicest 
varieties. Very strong, broad-leaved seedlings usually 
yield an abundance of single flowers. In Phihidelphia and 
southward the plants may be protected in Winter by straw. 
Seventy-five to eighty-five per cent, of a good strain of 
double Border Carnations will give true doubles from seed. 



The following is a list of the best modern varieties 
of Border Carnations in general commerce: 



Alcinous. Lemon yellow, marked 
purple. 

Angela. Yellow, edged purple. 

Benghazi. Crimson red. 

Brigadier. Scarlet self. 

Coronation. Apricot and madder 
red. 

Delos. Yellow, margined red. 

Diana. Pure white. 

Distinction. Yellow, edged purple. 

Doreen. White, marked helio- 
trope. 

East Anglia. Buff, edged purple. 

Elfrida. Terra cotta self. 

Enceladus. Red, suffused crimson. 

Eros. Yellow, edged and veined 
pink. 

Fireflanie. Rich crimson. 

Felicity. White, striped helio- 
trope. 

Graham-White. Yellow, edged 
rose. 

Hampton. Fancy yellow, mar- 
gined red. 

Harmony. Buff, edged and suf- 
fused rose. 

Helvetia. Yellow ground, mottled 
heliotrope. 

Honora. Apple blossom self. 



I sis. Bright apricot. 

John Guy. Deep sulphur yellow. 

Leading Lady. Yellow, marked 
pink. 

Lord Roberts. Deep sulphur yel- 
low. 

Lord Tennyson. Yellow, edged 
rose. 

Lavivia. Yellow, margined soft 
pink. 

Meteor. Madder red. 

Marathon. Bright madder red. 

Morocco. Blight crimson. 

Mrs. Lesmoir Gordon. White, 
feathered heliotrope. 

Nora. Yellow, edged crimson. 

Paderewski. Heliotrope self. 

Premier. Sulphur yellow. 

Queen Alexandra. Pale buff yel- 
low. 

Queen of Spain. Madder red. 

Rosamond. Bright rose self. 

Roy Morris. Brilliant scarlet. 

Snowdon. Pure white. 

Sabrina. Maize yellow. 

Snow-Elf. Pure white. 

Trojan. Pure white. 

Violet Lloyd. White, edged rose. 

Volunteer. Bright scarlet. 

Yellow Hammer. Pure yellow. 



MARGUERITE CARNATIONS 179 

The following are less expensive, but good: 

Elizabeth Shiffner. Rich orange Nene Beauty. Yellow, marked 

self. rose. 

Farthest North. Pure white. Orpheus. Soft sulphur. 

Florence Holderness. Deep helio- Primrose Queen. Pale yellow. 

trope shaded old rose. pjnk Pearl. Bright pink self. 

Golden Ram. Yellow, edged Sylvanus. Terra cotta. 

scarlet. c t ^ if Scarletta. White ground, edged 

Jean Douglas, bcarlet sell. i '^ ' o 

King George. Crushed strawberry n i- t * a/ n j j • 

jr bunlight. Yellow, edged crimson. 

LadyGreenall. Rosy red, shading The Muse. White, edged pink and 

to blush. purple. 

Langton. Yellow, margined helio. Venice. Reddish terra cotta. 

Marjorie. Bright yellow self. Vedrines. Apricot and madder red. 

Melody. Yellow, edged rose. Wanda. Crimson self. 

Mont Blanc. Pure white. White Lady. Pure white. 

The French Grenadin can be T"aised from seed like- 
wise. The flowers of this strain are double, sweet 
scented, and bright scarlet. There is another type, called 
the Early Vienna Carnation, noted for its dwarf character 
(i2 in.), which also can be treated as a biennial; the colors 
are very varied. Thirdly, there are the Marguerite Carna- 
tions, interest in which began to be apparent about the 
year 1889 in France, and since then this remarkable strain, 
which can be treated perfectly as an annual, has gained 
great favor in England and also southern Europe. From a 
sowing made in gentle heat (60 deg.) in January or Feb- 
ruary, in shallow boxes, afterward being shifted into larger 
boxes, and finally planted out in their Summer quarters in 
April or May at latest, the plants will flower by August. 
There is no doubt about their merits; they simply smother 
themselves in bloom, yielding armfuls of nice, double 
flowers in practically all colors. These flowers are mainly 
fringed, though some are smooth petaled. 

At least one well known seed ' firm, hasj^developed 
an early-flowering strain, of the Perpetual Carnation, 




Copyright Sutton. & Sons 

Marguerite (Annual) Carnations. (Slightly Reduced) 



HARDY GARDEN PINKS 



l8l 



which flowers, it is said, within six months of sowing. When 
the plants are potted after flowering in the open ground, 
they bloom freely through the Winter. The annual 
Chinese Pink and its single and double varieties, raised 
from seed, are also eminently useful for bedding. 

THE HARDY GARDEN PINKS 

It is questionable if we make sufficient use of the hardy 
garden Pinks for garden decoration. The alpine species 
mentioned on earher pages (14-15) are not only suitable 




A Rock Garden Home for the Hardy, Dwarf Dianthuses 

but necessary to the true embelhshment of the rock garden, 
a form of gardening now becoming much more understood 
in the United States and frequently adopted as an outdoor 
feature. Particularly useful for this form of gardening 
is the Cheddar Pink (Dianthus caesius), which stands our 
hot Summers very well, also the Maiden Pink (D. del- 
toides), and the Rock Pink (D. petrseus). In addition 
there are neglectus, glacialis and alpinus. 



1 82 



HARDY GARDEN PINKS 



Of the varieties of D. plumarius, the true garden Pink, 
the best double sorts in cultivation are Her Majesty, large 
flowers of purest white; Excelsior, hght rosy pink; Juhette, 
white laced crimson; Wm. Hooper, fringed white with 
crimson-purple lacing; Homer, rosy red with dark center; 
Elsie, bright rose with maroon center; and White Reserve, 




Hardy Double Border Pink, Her Majesty 



free blooming white, nicely fringed. These old favorites 
bear Clove-scented flowers in great abundance during 
May and June. They are exceflent as an edging to a 
hardy border or for use in smaller front gardens, growing 
usually 6 in. to 8 in. high, or say a foot when in flower. 
They are propagated by cuttings taken in the Fall, which 



HARDY GARDEN PINKS 183 

root readily in coldframes, and can be wintered therein 
and planted out early in the Spring before they start growth; 
or they can be layered like the Border Carnations. A new 
white of great merit is named Perpetual Reserve because 
of its everblooming qualities. 

In England and Scotland, where these are grown to 
great perfection, and where fine strains have been developed, 
many superior varieties are fisted. The foHowing is a selec- 
tion given by Dobbie & Co., Edinburgh: Albino, pure 
white, smooth edges, extra fine; Afice Lee, white mule, 
early, dwarf and free; Challenger, rose color, perfect habit, 
exceptionally free; Coronation, a large, semi-double flower, 
with claret markings; Deficata, very fine flower of rose 
color; Fimbriata alba plena major, a large white garden 
Pink; Floral Beauty, rose color, large, free and robust; 
John Ball, white ground with crimson markings; Mrs. 
Beckett Clayhills, a white Pink of exceptional merit; 
Paddington, pink, claret center, early and fine; Progress, 
large, rosy mauve flower on stiff" stems, a perpetual 
flowering Pink; Sam Barlow, white with claret blotch, good 
dwarf habit; The King, large pink flower with crimson 
markings, a perpetual flowering variety. 

The ordinary single forms of common Pink or Pheas- 
ant's Eye are also most adaptable and useful edging and 
rockery plants, being perfectly hardy. So is the Sweet 
William, which may be had in many fine colors, as salmon 
pink, white, scarlet, etc. They are raised like the Mar- 
guerite Carnations or can be purchased as plants. The 
so-called Everblooming Hybrid Sweet William, which is a 
form of China Pink, but is perennial and hardy, is named 
latifolius atrococcineus, with brilliant scarlet, double 
flowers. 



CHAPTER XI 



Varieties of The American Carnation 

In a description of varieties it is useful only to include 
those that are mostly grown at the present time. The in- 
troductions of recent years are far in advance of the older 
sorts, just as those mentioned in this chapter are likely to 
be outshone by newer and better ones in a short time. 

The Carnation of the present is a vastly superior flower 
to the Carnation of fifteen or twenty years ago. Size, stem, 
color and producing quahties have all been greatly improved 
since that time, and our beautiful flower is more popular 
and is used in a greater number of ways than ever before. 

The result of a vote cast by fifteen of the best known 
commercial American growers in March, 191 5, showed the 
following results: 

Votes Votes 
White Enchantress 12 ^^^^ delight 6 



White Wonder 12 



Benora 6 

„ White Perfection 5 

5e^^on II Champion 4 

Enchantress Supreme 10 Rosette 4 

Mrs. C W. Ward 10 Philadelphia.'.'.'.". '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. 4 

Matchless 7 Gloriosa 3 

Enchantress 7 Rose Pink Enchantress 3 

An election of varieties was taken by an Enghsh 
horticultural journal early in 191 5, which resulted in 
showing which were the favorites in that country: 



VARIETIES OF THE AMERICAN CARNATION 



185 



Votes 

*May Day 30 

*White Wonder 28 

Triumph (British) 28 

*White Enchantress 23 

*Mrs. C W.Ward 22 

*Enchantress Supreme 21 

*ScarIet Glow 19 

Lady Northcliffe 18 

*Enchantress 17 

*Winsor 17 

*Beacon 16 

Mikado 14 



Votes 

*Champion 13 

Mary Allwood 12 

*Rose Pink Enchantress 11 

*PhiIadeIphia 9 

*Pink Delight 8 

Carola 8 

*White Perfection 7 

Lady Meyer 7 

Salmon Enchantress 6 

*Rosette 6 

Empire Day 5 

Queen Alexandra 5 



Those marked with an asterisk (*) are American raised varieties. 

Of the varieties introduced since January, 191 3, these 
were voted on as follows: 



Votes 

Champion 28 

Gorgeous 23 

Scarlet Carola 14 

Pink Sensation 13 

Princess Dagmar 13 

Philadelphia 12 



Votes 

Mary Allwood 11 

Matchless 8 

Lady Fuller 7 

Queen Alexandra 7 

Circe 7 

Enchantress Supreme 6 



The best for outdoor culture, according to the election, 



were : 

Votes 

May Day 30 

Britannia 28 

Enchantress 23 

Triumph (British) 21 

Mikado 17 

Winsor 17 



Votes 

White Perfection 14 

Beacon 13 

White Enchantress 12 

Rose Pink Enchantress 11 

Mrs. Burnett 10 

White Wonder 10 



In selecting what varieties he should have, the grower 
ought to choose the best keepers, as they are the only ones 
worth growing commercially. 

Beacon. — A good scarlet, very free, giving a continu- 
ous crop of flowers from early Fall until Spring. It is of 
vigorous growth and good habit, and is a great favorite for 
Christmas. It is without doubt more grown than any other 
red, and with some growers seems to improve with age. In 



1 86 VARIETIES OF THE AMERICAN CARNATION 

some places it splits badly in Midwinter, but its freedom of 
flower somewhat compensates for that. 

Benora. — The best variegated ever disseminated. It 
does not make a very large plant in the field, but when 
planted in the house it flowers early and continues to im- 
prove right through the Winter and Spring, giving remark- 
able flowers even in June when most all the others have de- 
teriorated in size and in color. Benora is a fine white, 
striped with bright red, the stripe being narrow and evenly 
marked, giving it a pleasing appearance. It has fine form 
and substance and is one of the very best keepers. It 
makes no surplus grass and throws fine flowers on a long, 
strong stem. Benora is free and healthy, and undoubtedly 
by its many fine points has made the variegated Carnation 
more popular with the flower buying people. 

Champion. — This is a bright scarlet. It makes a 
rapid growth, comes in early, and does not let up through 
the whole season. Very fine until January, after which it 
goes somewhat off color and splits a little, coming back in 
fine form in March until June. 

Gloriosa. — A beautiful soft shade of pink of good 
size. In Midwinter, Gloriosa is at its best, and at that time 
is one of the very best Carnations ever raised. It is a poor 
grower in the field, making a small plant. It is also apt 
to come light on the edges in early Fall and late Spring. 
It also goes very much off crop for a while after March first. 

Gorgeous. — One of the novelties of 1914. It is a 
dark pink of an unusual shade. It is a very vigorous grower 
and the flowers are produced on enormous stems of 4 ft. or 
more. Its form is not of the best and it comes an off color 
through the Winter. It is an exceptionally fine keeper and 
produces lots of flowers in the Spring. 

Enchantress. — An old favorite which is still largely 



VARIETIES OF THE AMERICAN CARNATION 187 



^H ' ^ 'Jj^v." 10>TlKjjt .^a^^m^^ cwrm m 




^jB^ "^^ ^'*" ^ 




11^ '^ 

ill; 
si*' * 





Exhibition Vase of the Handsome Enchantress Supreme 



l88 VARIETIES OF THE AMERICAN CARNATION 

grown. Flesh pink in color and of large size, it has held its 
own for a good number of years. It is of good habit, grows 
free and strong, and flowers well both early and late. It 
has rather too many petals and splits its calyx somewhat, 
but altogether is a good Carnation. 

Enchantress (Rose Pink).— Identical with Enchan- 
tress except in its color. This variety was grown quite ex- 
tensively for a few years, but is not often seen now. 

Enchantress (White). This is another sport of En- 
chantress, a pure white which has been deservedly popular, 
as it has all the good qualities of its parent, added to which 
is an even more robust constitution. 

Enchantress Supreme. — A later sport of Enchantress, 
of great merit. A shade of salmon pink, a trifle larger than 
the old variety. Very healthy and free of growth and does 
not split badly. 

Harry Fenn. — Today the best crimson, as it has been 
for a number of years. Rather small in size but of fine 
color and a good keeper, with a freedom and growth of 
flower ahead of anything else in its color. 

Matchless. — A wonderful white Carnation, so voted 
by almost everyone who grows it. Very healthy grower, 
with fairly heavy foliage of a dark green color. This variety 
will give as many flowers as, or more than, any other Carna- 
tion. The flower has good size and form, with nicely ser- 
rated petals. It is very fragrant, an excellent keeper, and 
the blooms can be left on the plant longer than those of any 
other variety. This Carnation gives promise of taking the 
place of all the older whites. Its only faults appear to be a 
little shortness of stem in the early Fall, and the fact that 
it has some pink in the flower in the middle of Winter. 

Mrs. C. W. Ward. — A dark shade of pink which is well 
liked in most localities. It is of strong habit and of large 



VARIETIES OF THE AMERICAN CARNATION I 89 

size. It has also good keeping qualities and is fairly free 
flowering. It seems to do especially well around New York 
and Philadelphia. Farther north it is apt to be streaky in 
Winter and splits somewhat in the dark days. Grown at 
its best, it is particularly fine. 

Philadelphia. — The color is a fine shade of light pink, 
between Gloriosa and Mrs. Ward. Philadelphia makes a 
large plant and produces lots of flowers, but its keeping 
qualities are not of the best. 

Princess Dagmar. — A very dark crimson of great 
size, but too dark. It seems to be well in favor with the 
English growers. 

Pocahontas. — A flne crimson and a good keeper, but 
a little too dark. 

Pink Delight. — A fine commercial Carnation, grown 
very successfully in some localities and declared to be one 
of the very best varieties ever disseminated. The color is 
flesh pink. A very **hard" flower, which will keep and ship 
as well as, or better than, any other Carnation. It is rather 
difficult to propagate, but when rooted grows rapidly. It 
will flower early and keep going right through the entire 
season, making no surplus grass. Gives very few poor 
flowers and scarcely splits at all. 

Peerless Pink. — Dark pink in color. A nice growing 
plant, starting to flower early and giving fairly good satis- 
faction at all times. 

Rosette. — A cerise pink of healthy, clean growth. 
Rosette is a little slow in starting in the Fall, but after it 
commences to flower will keep at it steadily. In Midwinter 
it is nearly perfection, the color being even and beautifully 
bright. In the sunny days of Spring it will be inclined to 
get light on the edge and will need shading early. At its 
best ^it is remarkable for its wonderful color and its keeping. 



190 VARIETIES OF THE AMERICAN CARNATION 




Yellow Prince as Exhibited at the Amekican Caknaiion 
Society's Show, 1914 



VARIETIES OF THE AMERICAN CARNATION Ipl 

White Perfection.- — A fine Carnation of purest wliite, 
excellent form and of nice habit, good growth and fairly 
free flowering. A great favorite a few years ago. 

White Wonder. — In many respects like White Per- 
fection, but making a larger plant and producing more 
flowers, though not so good in form. 

WiNSOR. — A great favorite for several years. A light 
pink of vigor, and a producer of note, especially in the 
Spring months. Stands the warm sunny weather better 
than most varieties. 

Yellow Prince. — The yellow Carnations have not at- 
tained the size and form of many of the other colors, but 
there is an improvement in each new one that appears. 
Yellow Prince is a bright yellow, medium in size, and free 
in flowering. It keeps well but splits rather badly. A 
real good yellow Carnation has yet to make its appearance. 

There are some very promising new varieties that have 
been on exhibition at various shows. Among them are: 

Alice. — A nice soft shade of pink between Pink De- 
light and Gloriosa, medium in size and has the reputation 
of being very free. 

Alice Coombs. — A fine pink, of Gloriosa shade, with 
a wonderful stem and calyx. 

Cottage Maid. — A light pink sport of Mrs. C. W. 
Ward. 

Crystal White. — A magnificent white, of nice form 
and very fragrant. 

Good Cheer. — A dark pink that has the appearance 
of making a good commercial variety. 

Pink Sensation. — A light pink of great size, which 
should be an acquisition as a fancy flower. 

There are several more apparently of merit, but it is 
not safe to predict the future of any new variety. 



CHAPTER XII 



Hybridizing and Crossbreeding 

There is perhaps no flower that has been so completely 
transformed by cultivation as the Carnation. As we 
have it growing today, it bears but slight resemblance to 
the small, five-petaled flower of two thousand years ago. 
Not only has the bloom been improved by the addition of 
petals, but from a Summer-flowering plant its blooming 
period has been extended to cover the entire year. From 
the small-flowered wilding, cultivated by the Greeks, 
there has been evolved, by careful attention and breeding, 
the modern 4 in. flower carried on a 3 ft. stem. 

While a considerable portion of this improvement, 
especially of that achieved during the past quarter of a 
century, may be attributed to improved cultural methods, 
particularly as regards the size of the flower, to the hybrid- 
izer belongs the credit for changing its habit of blooming 
from the periodic to the perpetual, and for the wide range of 
colors seen in the numerous varieties. 

The breeding of Carnations is productive of both 
pleasure and profit, for there is no more fascinating work 
than the breeding of plants, with its expectations, surprises 
and disappointments. Many growers indulge in this 
work in a limited way for diversion, taking keen delight 
in the variations that can be seen in a batch of seedlings. 
Occasionally a valuable variety is produced, but most of 
the real acquisitions have been produced by the few who 



HYBRIDIZING AND CROSSBREEDING I93 

have studied the problem carefully and followed it up 
systematically over a long period. 

It has been a source of comment that while the breeding 
of Carnations has been carried on for many years, there 
has not as yet appeared a true bred Carnation, one that 
will reproduce itself from seed. This can perhaps be 
accounted for in two ways. In the first place, the per- 
petual flowering Carnation of today is so different from 
the original from which it sprang, and the change has 
been so gradual, there remains a strong tendency to revert. 
Then, too, the breeders have not concentrated their efforts 
on the production of a true bred stram. The custom has 
been to infuse the blood of any variety possessing certain 
qualities in which the strain may have been deficient, 
consequently the ancestry of most varieties is so complex 
that no definite results could be relied upon when a cross 
was made. 

Unexpected colors and other characteristics crop out 
after several generations, and it is only by close breeding 
over a long period of years that such variations can be 
eliminated, as we have demonstrated in our own work. 
For years we have confined the bulk of our crossing to 
certain colors, separating the colors into five classes, 
namely white, flesh pink, deep pink, red (including crim- 
son), and yellow. We cross a white variety with another 
white, a red with another red, and so on. As a result, 
we get each year a larger per cent, of true colored seedhngs. 
But as stated above, there will occasionally crop out a 
color that has not appeared in the pedigree for several 
years. For instance, we have two seedhng varieties which 
are identical (deep flesh pink) in color. One came from 
two intense scarlets, the other from two pink varieties. 
The influence of the parents can be seen, however, in that 



IQ-t HYBRIDIZING AND CROSSBREEDING 

the color of the first named holds exactly until the bloom 
goes to sleep, not even bleaching in the strong sun, while 
the other bleaches badly. Out of the same red X red 
pod, came also a pure white variety. 

The same may be said of the habit of growth, although 
not so much attention has been paid to this feature. One 
extensive breeder has produced a strain with an open, 
upright growth, producing very few shoots along the flower 
stems. In some of the varieties this characteristic is so 
pronounced as to be a detriment, as no young shoots 
appear until the flower is cut, causing a much longer period 
between crops. Such plants do not make good stock 
readily in the fieM, and do not meet with favor in the 
eyes of the commercial growers. A free branching habit 
should be the aim. A plant that starts young shoots from 
the lower portion of the flower stems about the time the 
bud is half grown, will give the most continuous crop of 
blooms. Those that are what is known as grassy will 
bloom scantily until toward Spring, throwing a heavy crop 
of blooms at that time. This is a partial reversion to the 
original type and such varieties should be avoided when 
crossing. 

The act of poIHnating, or transferring the pollen from 
the anthers of one flower to the stigma or stigmas of another, 
is quite simple, a little experience in the work being suffi- 
cient to guide the operator. Of far greater importance is 
the selection of the parents, as intimated above, even after 
the pedigree has been established. 

It must be kept in mind that the perfect Carnation 
is made up of numerous parts, any of which may be perfect 
or imperfect, without in the shghtest degree affecting the 
others. It is well known that a weakness in a parent is 
apt to be aggravated in the offspring, unless counteracted 



HYBRIDIZING AND CROSSBREEDING 



195 



by unusual strength in that particular section in the other 
parent. For instance, a variety possessing a poor calyx 
should never be used except in connection with a variety 
that never spHts. A tall, slender grower should be crossed 
with a more bushy one. 

It has been stated that the male, or pollen parent, 
exercises the greater influence over the color of the 

seedlings, while the 
female, or seed par- 
ent, dominates the 
habit of growth. We 
have not been able to 
verify this, although 
we have observed 
carefully. For this 
reason we frequently 
make reverse crosses. 
Having selected the 
varieties that are to 
be crossed, the first 
thing to do is to pre- 
pare the flower that 
is to bear the seed. 
This should be done 
as soon as the petals 
are unfolded and be- 
fore the anthers, 
which bear the pollen, 
have burst open. Pull 
out all the center petals and remove the anthers to prevent 
self pollination. In a few days you will notice a fuzzy 
growth along the upper part of the stigmas, of which there 
are usually two, but frequently three, and sometimes even 




Section of a Double Carnation 

Showing Reproductive Organs 

AND Other Parts 

a, anthers; b, style; c, ovary; d, ovules 
e and f, bracts 



196 HYBRIDIZING AND CROSSBREEDING 

four. A piece of glass and a camel's hair brush are usually 
employed to transfer the pollen, but we use our thumbnail 
and a dull knife blade, which we find more convenient 
and just as efficient, care being exercised not to injure the 
stigmas. 




v. J. Er. Stat 

Single Carnation Spread to Show Sexual Organs and Petals 



Before doing any crossing, the operator should make 
a careful study of the structure of the pod containing the 
tiny ovules which, when fertilized, will produce the seed. 



HYBRIDIZING AND CROSSBREEDING I97 

He will notice inside the shell a tiny cob, not unlike a corn 
cob. This is covered all around with the tiny ovules, just 
as the corn cob is covered with the grains of corn. From 
the tip of the cob there is a thread leading to each stigma 
and through which the life passes from the pollen to the 
ovule. Inasmuch as each ovule represents a unit and is 
fertilized independently of the others, it stands to reason 
that a liberal application of pollen is likely to produce a 
well filled seed pod, although it is a recognized fact that 
some varieties produce seed more freely than others. There 
are varieties that will not produce seed. Others will not 
produce pollen, while most varieties produce both. 

Care should be exercised when watering to keep the 
pollenized bloom dry. If fertilization takes place, the 
flower will go to sleep within three days, at which time it is 
advisable to slit the calyx in such a manner that no moisture 
may collect to rot the seed pod. Each pollinated flower 
should be tagged, giving the parentage and the date of 
pollinization. 

We have found little, if any, diff'erence between the 
percentage of successful crosses, according to the time of 
the year the cross was made, but there are other reasons 
why late Fall or early Winter are the most desirable for 
this work. It should be done while there are no bees 
around, else your record tags will be of little value. 

It will require from six to ten weeks for the seeds to 
ripen, at which time you will notice the shell taking on a 
brownish tint. Do not leave the pod on the plant until it 
bursts open, else you might lose some of the seed, but 
gather a few days before, taking a few joints of the stem 
along with it. Place in an envelope until well ripened and 
then sow in a light, well drained soil, covering the seeds 
about one-eighth of an inch deep. In about eight days 



ipS HYBRIDIZING AND CROSSBREEDING 

germination will take place and the watering during this 
time should be done very carefully to avoid damping off. 
We like to sow the seed about March i, as that gives 
enough time to grow nicely estabhshed plants by planting 
out time at the end of April. As soon as they are large 
enough to handle, pot the seedlings into small pots. We 
prefer potting to pricking into flats, because the young 
plants can be treated more individually in case of damping. 
Usually these plants are set out in the field and are 
allowed to bloom outdoors in late Summer or early Fall, 
each one being labeled when in bloom and later brought 
inside. This is, no doubt, the most practical method 
where large quantities are handled, but if the number of 
seedlings does not exceed a thousand or two, we prefer to 
flower them inside in pots. We find that but little idea 
can be gained from the flowers that are produced outside. 
Colors that seem good out of doors may come pale and 
washy in the greenhouse in the Winter months, and vice 
versa. The same may be said regarding the calyx and 
form; while no dependence can be placed in the stem as it 
is produced out of doors. We find it possible to get a far 
better idea of the merits of a seedling from a bloom that is 
produced under Winter conditions, and as stated above, if 
the number of plants to be tested is not prohibitive, we prefer 
to handle them in that way. Pot them into 4 in. or 5 in. 
pots, allowing them to run to flower when they get ready, 
which is usually in the late Fall or early Winter. When 
a vigorous plant in a 4 in. or 5 in. pot runs up to one flower 
in the late Fall, if there is any inclination to split the calyx 
it is apt to show it. The presence or absence of young 
shoots around the base and along the lower part of the 
stem will give you an idea of the style of the growth. Then, 
too, you have better control over the plants. We have 



HYBRIDIZING AND CROSSBREEDING Ipp 

seen what were considered the most promising seedlings 
lost in the process of transferring from the field to the 
house. Not so with the pot culture. (It might be well 
to state here that no seedhng should be discarded until 
it has bloomed unless the plant is seriously diseased, for 
any one of them might be just the one you aimed at when 
you made the cross.) 

As soon as a comprehensive idea can be gained from 
the bloom, the plant should be labeled and set aside if 
meritorious, or discarded if unworthy. Each plant is 
given a number, which is written on a label along with the 
color, the parentage, and the year the cross was made. If 
space is available, these plants may be planted on the 
bench, where they will make cuttings freely, frequently 
throwing up additional flowering shoots, which will confirm 
or contradict the original estimate of their merits. 

During the propagating season all the good, strong 
cuttings are struck for testing the following season. Great 
care should be exercised in the selection of these cuttings, 
only such as will perpetuate the vigor of the original plant 
being taken. Over-propagation has caused the downfall 
of many a promising sort. The number of cuttings taken 
from each plant will vary according to its habit of growth, 
but usually from six to a dozen cuttings is considered 
sufficient for the second year's trial. If the variety is 
considered worthy of further trial, these plants will give 
enough cuttings to fill a nice block of space on the bench. 

With the second year's trial the real task of selection 
begins. Many will show characteristics that will cause a 
complete reversal of the original estimate placed on their 
value, while others will confirm or even improve on the 
first year's showing. A good idea, we find, is to keep records 
on each variety in a pocket notebook. Each variety is 



200 



HYBRIDIZING AND CROSSBREEDING 




WiNSOR, Light Pink. Good for Sunny Weather 



STANDARD OF POINTS FOR CARNATIONS 201 

given a page and from time to time, beginning with the 
first bloom produced in the Fall, records are made of the 
color, size, form, stem, calyx, the growth of the plant or 
any other point bearing on the value of the variety. It is, 
of course, essential that these records be absolutely correct, 
else they will be of no assistance in selecting the varieties 
for further triaL 

By Midwinter a fairly accurate estimate may be had 
of the varieties on trial and propagating is again resumed. 
This time the number of cuttings taken is gauged by the 
estimate placed on its value. During the third year, in 
addition to the verification of the second year's records, 
we add a record of the number of blooms cut, for the 
purpose of comparison with our records on the standard 
sorts. Unless a new variety will give a sufficient number 
of blooms, be they ever so fine, it will not pay the com- 
mercial grower to plant it. 

STANDARD OF POINTS FOR CARNATIONS 

In order to be able to form a correct estimate of the 
worth of a variety, it is necessary that the grower possess 
a thorough knowledge and excellent judgment. He must 
be able to weigh correctly the merits against the defects, 
as every variety does possess some of both. There is 
perhaps no better method than to employ the scale of 
points as arranged by the American Carnation Society. 
If a fair scoring will give a total of eighty or more points, 
the variety possesses at least some merit, and should be 
given further triaL This scale is arranged according to 
the relative value placed on the different parts in making 
up a perfect bloom, and was worked out by the leading 
Carnation growers. 

Color is placed first with 25 points. Unless a flower 



202 STANDARD OF POINTS FOR CARNATIONS 

possesses a pleasing color it is of little use, as it is the color 
that first of all excites admiration. The color should not 
only be pleasing, but it should be pure in tone. White 
should be as white as it is possible to get in a flower, and 
the petals should be free from flaking. The lighter shades 
of pink should contain enough yelJow to prevent bleaching, 
and the cerise shades should contain enough scarlet to hold 
their brilhancy. There are two distinct shades of scarlet. 
The light or orange scarlet, as seen in Scarlet Glow, and 
the deep red, as seen in Adonis. Either of these possesses 
a brilliancy that is practically unafi'ected by age. The 
crimson, which is really maroon, should contain enough 
scarlet to light up under the rays of sun or artificial light. 
A yellow should be clear and of a golden hue, the best so 
far being Yellow Prince. Self colors are considered of 
greatest value, but a well marked, striped or flaked variety 
has its uses. Any color that is pleasing to the eye is 
worthy of a place. 

The size, which carries 20 points, should be as near 
four inches wide as possible. Blooms that measured over 
four inches have been shown, but they have invariably 
proved to be freaks, or overfed. Four inches is still the 
standard for size. 

The calyx, which carries five points, should be so 
formed as to hold the flower firmly and without bursting. 

To the stem is allotted 20 points. It should hold the 
flower erect at all times. It should be 3 ft. long by January. 
It should be wiry and tough, and not snap too easily at the 
joints. 

Substance carries 15 points. The petals should be 
hard enough to withstand, without bruising, the necessary 
handling in the markets. The blooms should also keep in 
a fresh condition a leasonable length of time without going 



STANDARD OF POINTS FOR CARNATIONS 203 

to '* sleep," i. e., withering. Thick, wax}' petals do not 
alw^ays denote keeping capacity. Only by careful test 
can the keeping qualities be determined. 

Ten points are given to form. The petals may be 
either serrated or smooth edged, but the guard petals 
should lie flat and at right angles with the calyx, overlapping 
enough to form a perfect circle in outline. The center 
should stand above the calyx one-half the distance of the 
diameter of the flower, forming a half sphere. There should 
be just enough petals to fill the center comfortably without 
crowding. 

Fragrance is given only 5 points, not that it is not 
considered a desirable attribute, but because it is so variable 
under difl"erent conditions. While the trade refuses to 
place a proper market value on fragrance, the b^-eeder 
should strive to develop this feature which w^e consider 
one of the Carnation's greatest charms. That spicy odor 
is inalienably associated with the Carnation in the public 
mind and should be developed. 

Having satisfied yourself that you have a variety that 
shows improvement over existing varieties, you proceed 
to woik up stock for the purpose of distribution among the 
trade. It is essential that you continue the most careful 
selection of the cuttings, in order that the variety's vitality 
shall not be undermined. 




CHAPTER XIII 



Exhibiting and Judging Carnations 

In selecting blooms for the exhibition tables, one should 
endeavor to get every flower as nearly ahke as possible. 
Color should be the first consideration, with size next. 
Nothing detracts from a good vase of blooms more than a 
few ofl^ colored or faded ones mixed in. It does not matter 
how good they are in size, badly colored blooms will surely 
kill the whole lot. 

Size, of course, counts to a great extent, and we are of 
opinion that judges often err in placing size before every 
other consideratoin, especially before a good, compact bloom. 
The writer's ideal of a good Carnation for the exhibition 
table is Rosette. It is quite large enough. It is of perfect 
form, good substance and stem, and has grand keeping 
qualities, which, of course, is accounted for by its substance. 

Next to size we place stem. The stems should be 
selected as evenly as possible, straight and long, without 
getting down on the plant too much, or into the hard wood. 
When hard wood is cut the blooms will not keep; it is 
impossible for them to assimilate sufficient water. 

Fragrance, of course, is ahvays acceptable in Carna- 
tions, but is not necessary. How many of us consider 
fragrance when looking over Carnations? If everything 
in form, color, stem and calyx is good, never mind fragrance, 
so far as exhibiting for prizes is concerned. 



EXHIBITING AND JUDGING 



205 









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206 EXHIBITING AND JUDGING 

In the matter of cutting the blooms the writer always 
selects the blooms at least 48 hours before starting them 
on their way to shows. This gives them a good chance to 
get filled up with water and they are harder and better 
able to withstand 36 or 40 hours in boxes. In packing for 
the trip, corrugated boxes are used, 42 in. to 48 in. long, the 
flowers placed in layers, with tissue paper over each layer, 
and damp newspapers over the stems. Never damp the 
blooms, or make the paper too wet. We have yet to 
report a faihire by this method. There will be three layers 
to each box, 01 from 150 to 200 blooms. When arranging 
them for the exhibition, be sure that the water is not ice 
cold. We Hke to set them in water that is moderately 
warm at fust, then later p'ace them in colder water in time 
for the judges to pass upon. Flowers that wc'c to all 
intents sleepy when unpacked, revived to a very great extent 
by this method. 

One gets lots of pleasure by exhibiting, gains lots of 
knowledge, learns other people's ideas, especially so from 
the judges. It is fun to see how the same judges will 
change in ideas from one year to another; it keeps one 
guessing what to expect will take their eye from one year 
to the next. But we know of no other way in which one 
gets so much in touch with all that is good and beneficial, 
both in pleasure and business, than by exhibiting. It is 
an incentive to grow better flowers. If we are beaten we 
go home declaring we won't be licked next year. If we 
win, so much the better. What better inducement can we 
get to excel with our favorite flower from year to year ? 

A new departure in the method of exhibiting Carna- 
tions in America was inaugurated at the National Flower 
Show at Boston in 191 1. A class was there formed 
calling for " The best display of Carnation blooms, covering 



EXHIBITING AND JUDGING 



207 




Basket Exhibit of Carnations 



208 EXHIBITING AND JUDGING 

150 sq. ft. of space, to contain not less than 1000 blooms 
nor more than 1500 blooms." The quality of the flowers, 
the artistic arrangement and general effect were to be the 
points considered in making the awards. Decorative green 
of any kind, including plants, was permitted, and the prizes 
were $200 for the first, $100 for the second, and $50 for the 
third. 

This induced strong competition in which much di- 
versity of taste was in evidence, and much skill in the 
decorative effects produced. In each case an ample ground 
work of greenery was formed, mostly of the choicer kinds of 
Maidenhair fern or Nephrolepis. Adiantum Farleyense, 
as fine specimen plants over dark velvet, was used in one 
instance, while tall glass vessels, filled with graceful masses 
of Carnations, each representing one variety, was another 
feature. Bowls of blooms set on pedestals, and long 
arches with baskets or bowls of Carnations fastened thereto, 
formed the scheme of yet another. The canopy idea was 
also well utilized, with other means to enhance the grace 
and to show the value and beauty of the respective varieties 
without any crowding in the general arrangement. 

A bold scheme of contrasting colors can be very well 
employed, such as a scarlet against a white, or scarlet, 
white and pink, but a conglomeration of colors is to be 
avoided. Pink varieties in several shades, with white and 
a lesser number of reds, but each shown in a separate vase, 
usually go well. 

In these arrangements for efl'ect we must get away 
from the heavy, packed arrangement inalienable from the 
use of the ordinary exhibition vessels of upright form. 
Glass jars of various diameters and lengths are ideal for a 
Carnation exhibit for eff^ect. Very graceful bamboo stands 
and other contrivances are also utilized, but a background 



EXHIBITING AND JUDGING 



209 




210 EXHIBITING AND JUDGING 

of some neutral or dark color in plush or velvet, or even 
green baize for lack of anything better, should be em- 
ployed, as the Carnation is too " thin " a flower to look well 
without this support or foil. The American Carnation 
Society adopted a dark bottle green color for its vases at 
its annual meeting at Cleveland in 191 4. These vases, as 
is well known, are about 8 in. wide at the mouth and 16 in. 
high to hold 100 blooms, and proportionately less for half 
that number. 

It used to be the custom and is still, though to a less 
extent, at the English shows when fancy blooms of the 
Border type were exhibited, to show these on boards or 
boxes, which were 30 in. by 18 in^, 4 in. deep in front and 9 
in. deep at the back. One of these boxes containing the 
flowers is here illustrated. The flowers are shown with 
a circular white card or collar beneath them, with the 
idea of throwing up the color, and at the same time sup- 
porting the bloom. These are made of white cardboard 
with a circular hole just the size of the calyx. Through 
this the bloom is taken, the cardboard being adjusted just 
beneath the petals. The outer petals are flattened upon 
this cardboard, while the central ones are arranged in regular 
order more or less flat, successively, in true symmetrical 
form. The idea is to get a smooth, faultless, round flower. 
Any superfluous petals, or any indeed the least malformed 
or small, are taken out by means of tweezers. Such blooms 
when " dressed " are then supposed to be ideal for the 
judges. Fringed flowers are never allowed in exhibits of 
these Border varieties. 

During the last eight or ten years, however, there has 
been a distinct and increasing tendency to exhibit the 
blooms naturally, without any dressing, and in vases. 



EXHIBITING AND JUDGING 



211 




212 



EXHIBITING AND JUDGING 




Bouquet of Carnations 



CHAPTER XIV 



Best Type of Greenhouse 

It is unanimously conceded that the greenhouse of 
100 per cent, efficiency for Carnation growing is the house 
to which the word ** general utihty '* can be apphed. 
The detached even span house of iron frame construction, 
or what is termed " reconstructed construction," having 
concrete sides and cast iron sills, has been universally pro- 
claimed to be the last word in *' safety first " greenhouse 
construction. 

Opinions diff"er radically among growers as to the 
most economical width at which to build, but undoubtedly 
the 37 ft. to 48 ft. house comes nearest the true economical 
ideal. But houses up to 78 ft. wide are in favor. On the 
best modern type iron frame greenhouse, all strains have 
been carefully calculated, every part and every connec- 
tion being made amply strong with the proper safety factor, 
so that there is absolutely no chance for failure. Foot 
pieces are made heavy and broad, and in such shape that 
when embedded in concrete they are held so rigid that 
there is absolutely no danger of disturbance by the reflex 
action which occurs in heavy winds. 

In deciding in which direction the ridge shall run one 
has to be guided by the individual available location, 
but the ridge running east and west and 263/2 deg. pitch 
roof, will give the best success. 

Wide houses are infinitely preferable to narrow ones 
and have everything in their favor. Better to build a 



214 HOUSES FOR CARNATION GROWING 

wide house not so long than a narrow house. The wide 
house can be added to as circumstances permit, which is 
much cheaper than rebuilding the narrow ones. In wide 
houses the volume of air is increased, which is one of the 
elements to success. The plants grow better in every 
stage and are not liable to suffer so much from the sudden 
variations of the temperature due to outside influences. 
The cost of heating the wide span house is also cut down 
considerably over the same area of ground space covered. 
The heat can be better and more economically appHed. 
Ventilation at the ridge can be given without danger of a 
downdraft on the plants. It is essential to the welfare of 
the plants to guard against any sudden rise or drop in the 
temperature owing to outside influences, and this is almost 
unavoidable in narrow houses. The hghter the house, 
the better the results; a better grade and greater quantity 
of blooms can be cut. 

A striking illustration of this was afl"orded the writer 
during a typical late Winter day. It was a clear, bright 
morning, followed by a sudden drop in temperature and a 
snowstorm at noon. Visiting one of our genial and most 
successful florists who at present has modern wide houses, 
the advantage of the wide, versus narrow, house was dis- 
cussed. *' Wait and see," was his comment. At 4 p.m., 
snowing fast, the thermometer stood correct for Carna- 
tions, and with still a crack of ventilation at the ridge 
and the fires untouched. On returning home where similar 
conditions had prevailed, the narrow houses, it was found, 
had been closed tight and the fires started before twelve 
o'clock. 

Permanency is the keynote today looking to the 
minimum of upkeep and depreciation. Growers agree that 
the best house is none too good, and a poor thing is dear at 



HOUSES FOR CARNATION GROWING 215 

any price. With the enormous capital being invested in 
greenhouses it behooves the investor to acquaint himself 
thoroughly with the several merits of the different con- 
structions and build the best, for the watchwords should be 
not how ** cheap " but how ** good." 

It has been contended that the general tendency on 
the part of the greenhouse builders has been to lighten the 
several members at the cost of safety with the idea of keep- 
ing down the price. Whilst this might apply to some con- 
structions, safety first is the rule of thoroughly reputable 
firms. The material benefit accruing from modern wide 
houses cannot be underestimated when compared to 
heavily constructed houses with too much ironwork, and 
especially is this applicable in the matter of upkeep and 
depreciation. 

The modern house shown on page 218 is of the "recon- 
structed construction," having concrete walls and capped 
by a cast iron sill (see illustrations). It is also built with 
approximately 12 ft. spacing of the rafters. Any sized 
glass can be used as in the old construction. If 16 in. wide 
glass is desired, each bay is arranged for nine lights. If 
20 in. lights are desired, each bay is arranged for seven 
lights, the combined shade being less in this type of house. 
Machine-made double thick clear glass only is used in this 
type of house. The columns and connections are 50 per 
cent, less than the older spacings, which are approximately 
8 ft., and it impresses every one as being far superior in 
design and strength in every way. The posts and rafters 
are in one piece, bent to the pitch of the roof, the iron being 
heated before bending and afterward allowed to anneal 
properly. It is evident that a combined post and rafter 
of this character is stronger than it can possibly be by 
welding or plate connection. Where it is necessary to 



2l6 



HOUSES FOR CARNATION GROWING 



piece the rafters, owing to the size of the house, this is 
done over the columns and it simply means a butt spHce 
where the strain is less and easier to take care of. The 
footings of these rafters, which are shown in the cut, are 
embedded in a concrete pier. Circular or pipe columns are 
used, as the strain on such a column is spread equally in all 

directions, consequently 

the members should be 

equally stiff in all direc- 
tions. The one objection 

to the pipe column is that 

it rusts on the inside, but 

this has been entirely over 

come by steeping the col- 
umns in paint before ship- 
ping, or by galvanizing, 

which is preferable. The 

cast iron anchor base for 

these is also illustrated. 

Some growers prefer the 

angle or I-shaped columns. 

The objection to these 

angles is that it is almost 

impossible to get a uniform 

section so that its resistance 

to strain is not equal in 

different directions. This 

leads to a certain vibration 
in one direction, which is objectionable, 
put together before being shipped from the factory, which 
faciHtates the work of erection and also reduces to a 
minimum any possibility of inferior workmanship of which 
however, no reputable firm would be guilty 



J 



Cast-Iron 

Anchor 

Base 




Column Strongly 
Bolted and Clamped 
to Base and Iron Sill 



All braces are 



HOUSES FOR CARNATION GROWING 217 

The combined *'Z" bar eaves plate and drip gutter, 
as shown on page 220, is proportioned to shed the rain clear 
of the superstructure, and the drip gutters forming part of 
the eave materially strengthens this part of the building 
and completely overcomes all the objectionable sagging 
features so well known to growers of the galvanized gutter 
that is attached by strips to the glazing bars, or the wood 
gutters which are used in some constructions. 

Ventilating is done at the sides by a line of transom 
or shding sashes operated by two gears placed in the center 
of the house. This method of side ventilation reduces to 
a minimum the possibihty of excessive draughts on the plants, 
and also reduces the labor of manipulation to a minimum, 
and whilst the labor question is of vital importance and 
is one of the chief elements in favor of the larger houses, 
growers must more or less be guided by common sense and 
experience. Long runs of roof ventilating have been 
tried, and from the construction point of view are an 
unquahfied success, but there is a general tendency on the 
part of some of the best growers to recede to the medium 
length of run operated by the worm gear. For large houses 
a run of 50 ft. to 72 ft. hft, operated by one gear, will be 
found to be the most practical and the safest. 

The gables are so braced as to withstand the shock of 
the severest storm. These are furnished with double slid- 
ing doors where necessary to allow of teams being used in 
the fining and emptying of the houses. These ''general 
utility " houses, to which this appellation can well be 
apphed, can be used equally for Sweet Peas or Roses, 
provided the necessary heating arrangements are adequate 
to maintain the required temperature. 

For growers of Hmited capital the semi-iron con- 
struction up to 35 ft. wide is not so expensive as the iron 



2l8 



HOUSES FOR CARNATION GROWING 




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PROPAGATING HOUSES 219 

frame construction. But the difference in cost above this 
width is relatively so small as not to warrant the semi-iron 
construction. All-wood constructions are practically out 
of date. But whatever house is built, success must neces- 
sarily, in the long run, depend on the skill of the individual 
grower. 

PROPAGATING HOUSES 

One of the most important adjuncts to the successful 
cultivation of Carnations is a suitable propagating house. 
For the average establishment there seems to be no apparent 
necessity just yet to break away from the old, time-honored 
lean-to on the north side of another building or wall. 
Where the width will permit, a bench can be at either side 
of a walk of sufficient width to permit of a wheelbarrow 
being used to facihtate the work of taking the sand in and 
out. These benches should not be more than 3 ft. in width. 
Such a house is more easily managed and regulated as 
regards watering and temperature; watering and spraying 
is reduced to a minimum, thus diminishing the possibihties 
of the development of cutting bench fungus. Where the 
benches are built of cypress, take the ordinary precaution 
of drying-out the bench for a few days after being thorough- 
ly washed down preceding a crop, and give it a good coat 
of Hmewash, adding to each pail of hmewash a handful of 
flowers of sulphur. 

The heating pipes should be under control and carried 
on stringers attached to the legs of the bench or on a hanger 
strung from the cross bearer. This permits of a better 
distribution of the heat than when carried along the legs 
of the bench. The best bench is one constructed of con- 
crete, with either flat, porous tile or brick bottom. 

If this type of house is not possible in connection with 



220 



PROPAGATING HOUSES 



a modern range of wide, even span houses, a suitable loca- 
tion must be selected for a narrow, even span house, about 
1 1 ft. wide, having benches on each side. This allows of 
ample walk space. The fronts of these benches, as in the 
lean-to, can be boarded in and *' shutters " placed at 
intervals to allow of proper manipulation of the heat. 
Some of the largest growers who make a specialty of supply- 




Capped Iron Sill 



'Z" Bar Eaves Plate 
AND Drip Gutter 



ing rooted cuttings by the thousands favor the even span 
house, or a house having a short span to the south, or even 
a long span lean-to with benches running either lengthwise 
or crosswise of the house. Closer attention must be 
given in these houses in the matter of watering, spraying, 
shading and heating than in the case of the usual narrow 
house or lean-to with the northern aspect. 



BENCHES FOR CARNATIONS 221 



KINDS OF BENCHES 



What is the best type of bench? This is an open 
question. We beheve that pecky cypress benches, with 
bearers running longitudinally and bottom boards cross- 
wise, will give the best and most economical bench for the 
commercial grower. The approximate price of an all- 
cypress (not pecky) bench in large houses is 22c. per sq. ft. 
erected. Such a bench will, with proper care, last at 
least eight years. Of course, the cypress bench needs more 
attention at the end of each season. Some growers con- 
tend that the wood bench is a great harbor for sowbugs. 
The risk of bench fungus is ever present, too. Yet only in 
advanced stages of decay does the former apply, and the 
latter is a negligible quantity if the benches are thoroughly 
washed down with a good force of water, and a coating of 
hmewash is apphed. 

In some localities, notably in Pennsylvania, the dearth 
and expense of requisite materials to build concrete benches 
makes them prohibitive. Then should it become neces- 
sary to utilize the house for different subjects or if building 
or remodelhng is necessary, the concrete beds that are made 
solid would have co be broken up at considerable expense. 

Unquestionably the best bench for Carnation growing 
is made of iron and tile, such as is generally used in private 
gardens, but the initial cost and upkeep make this pro- 
hibitive for the florist. 

The next best bench, and which is the nearest approach 
to the iron and tile, is the raised bench having porous tile 
bottoms and either concrete or wood sides. Most growers 
agree that Carnations planted in raised benches can be 
more easily manipulated and taken care of as regards 
watering and attention. 



222 BENCHES FOR CARNATIONS 

Where time and circumstances permit, a very satis- 
factory bench is one with the sides of concrete, of suitable 
width and height, and the space between filled in with 
soil or other suitable material, beaten down hard, level 
with the walls. On this, either round or square porous 
drain tiles are placed plumb with the edge of the wall, or 
overhung sufficiently to allow the heating pipes being 
carried underneath along the walls. This method permits 
a very neat and convenient arrangement of the heating 
pipes. The sides can be either of wood or cement as 
shown in the illustration on page 224. 

Some successful growers favor the '* sohd " bench of 
various heights; a few the ** ground bed." The adoption 
of these is probably advisable at times on sloping land, 
but our experience leads us to the opinion that while long 
stems and good quahty of bloom are obtained, it is at the 
expense of quantity. 

CEMENT BENCHES 

Cement has been used for many building purposes in 
recent times, and more latterly florists have made free use 
of it for the construction of benches in greenhouses. Al- 
though the initial cost is greater than for wooden benches, 
yet when once erected the cement bench lasts one's hfetime. 
If the grower has a supply of clean gravel at hand he should 
have little hesitation in adopting the cement bench, or well 
sifted rough cinders can also be used, but not fine ashes. 

If the grower makes his own benches, as can easily be 
done with a little skill on his part, it would be well for 
him beforehand to look around and purchase a quantity of 
flooring or old timber, which may sometimes be had cheap. 

The first necessity is the posts, which can be formed in a 
mold similar to those shown in the accompanying cut. 



BENCHES FOR CARNATIONS 



223 



The form at the left is more economical where it is the 
purpose to use it many times, as it is fitted with bolts which 
can be unscrewed when the cement has set. The one on 
the right shows the boards nailed together, and in that 
case the nails have to be knocked out. The bolted mold 
is the one recommended. Such posts can be 4 in. x 4 in., 
or 3 in. X 4 in., and 30 in. long and well anchored, and may 

be reinforced either by an iron 
rod or by wires. Iron piping 
is perhaps the best. For the 
sides of the benches, wires or 
bent iron rods may be used, 
rods also being used for re- 
inforcing the bottom of the 
bench. A part of the rod 
should be left protruding to 
grip the sides when they are 
added. Their top edge will be 
about 3^/2 ft. from the ground, 
unless, of course, where sohd 
benches are used. The sides 
then rest on the ground. 

The molds are made in sections of say 6 ft. or 8 ft. in 
length and the desired width, say 33^2 ft. or 4 ft. Four 
inch flooring is sufficient to support the weight of the 2 in. 
layer of cement without any sagging. The wires spoken 
of should be laid at equal distances apart, and their posi- 
tions marked so that before the cement sets hard, drainage 
holes can be pierced between them. Side molds of a 
depth of 8 in. or 9 in. are easily made, and can be held 
together readily by means of cross pieces lightly nailed 
over the top. 

Procure the Portland cement in bags, and use extreme 




Molds for Cement Posts 

{See lext) 



224 



BENCHES FOR CARNATIONS 



care not to get it wet either in transit or in storage, as once 
wet it sets and is unfit for use. Mix the concrete mushy wet 
in the proportion of four parts of gravel and sand to one of 
cement, and do the work quickly. All the gravel (or cin- 
ders) ought to be clean, and if possible have sharp angles. 




View of Side of Bench Showing Cement Base, Tile Bottom 
AND Strongly Braced Wooden Side 



BENCHES FOR CARNATIONS 225 

Trap, granite, and hard limestone are among the best 
materials for mixing with Portland cement to make con- 
crete. Soft materials should be avoided. All particles 
passing a quarter-inch screen may be considered as sand. 
In regard to water, any good tasting drinking water is 
suitable for the mixing. This is done on a wooden plat- 
form with shovels, and when fiHing in the concrete see that 
no vacuum is left, but puddle it in and make it smooth by 
means of trowels. The forms may be removed after the 
concrete has set four days. Recently the firm of McCasIan 
Bros, at Zanesville, Ohio, patented their sectional 
concrete slabs and construction for greenhouse benches, 
and the excellence of these sections is at once apparent on 
glancing at the accompanying illustration. 

BENCHES FOR SUB-IRRIGATION 

At one time this form of watering was much discussed, 
but owing to the cost of instalhng suitable benches for sub- 
irrigation and the care necessary in handhng the beds, it 
never became the success it was at first thought it would. 
Experiments were originally made at the Ohio Experimental 
Station. The idea is simply that of the pot and saucer, 
where water is filled in the saucer and rises by capillary 
attraction through the soil in the pot. It is Nature's plan, 
and good when properly understood and when experienced 
care is exercised. 

Benches provided with sub-irrigation save the time 
of three or four persons so far as watering is concerned, 
and finer plants result in the case of some varieties. One 
watering lasts double the length of time when placed under- 
neath than when put on top. Yet it was held that on the 
balance of cases as good blooms could be grown by means 



226 



BENCHES FOR CARNATIONS 



of surface watering as by sub-watered benches and at less 
risk and expense. 

The plan adopted was to form long, shallow '* tanks " 
upon which were placed lines or rows of porous bricks, 
tiles, or coarse ashes, and the water was let into this shallow 
tank through pipes in the side. Such water passed rapidly 
through the ashes or brick or tile to the soil of the bed or 




McCaslan's Sectional Concrete Bench in Sectional Slabs 



bench which lay immediately above. Half an inch of water 
would be soaked up in five or six hours in a 3}^ ft. bed. 
One advantage arising from these sub-irrigated benches 
was that the heating pipes could be placed immediately 
under them, and in that way the soil was always kept nicely 
warm. But with the use of cement benches this can be 
carried out without the need of any provision for holding 
water at the bottom. 



FUEL AND HEATING 227 

The cost of building sub-irrigation benches properly 
is two or even three times as great as for the ordinary 
cypress bench, and as varieties differ in their Hkes and dis- 
likes it was found also that some did markedly well by sub- 
irrigation, while others did not. The cost of a surface 
watered or ordinary bench may be taken at 22 cents per 
square foot; the sub-irrigated bench would cost $1.50 to 
$1.75 or even $2 per running foot, complete, according to the 
locality. It was this question of cost perhaps more than 
anything else, and the lessening returns from cut blooms, 
that influenced the growers to retain the old type of bench 
as against the sub-irrigated one. 

Heating and Fuel 

Regarding the amount of radiation required to main- 
tain a given temperature in a greenhouse, there is no 
hard and fast rule that can be apphed in all cases, since 
so much depends on the type of house, location, size and 
method of glazing. As a general rule, the following table, 
giving the lineal amount of 2 in. pipe for hot water heat, 
with water at a temperature of 160 deg. ; also the square 
feet of steam radiation at 5 lbs. pressure, will show how 
much is necessary to maintain the temperatures as stated, 
when the mercury outside is at zero. These amounts 
are based on the requirements of a greenhouse 100 ft. x 30 
ft., with cement walls 2 ft. high, 4 ft. of glass on each 
vertical side, height of ridge 13 ft. 6 in., and both ends 
glazed and exposed: 





Lin. ft. 


Sq. ft. of 


Temperature 


2 in. pipe 


steam pipe 


45 deg. to 50 deg. Fahr. 


1798 


460 


50 deg. to ss deg. Fahr. 


2071 


530 


SS deg. to 60 deg. Fahr. 


2372 


608 



228 FUEL AND HEATING 

The position of the boiler is very important. Choose 
a location that will be central even if additions have to 
be made to the estabUshment. It must also be accessible, 
and if located in a boiler house this should not be so placed 
as to cast a shadow over the greenhouses. The smoke- 
stack should Hkewise not be in a position to throw a 
shadow, and if at all practicable should be away from the 
direction of the prevaihng winds, otherwise smoke and 
soot will be thrown over the glass. A stack lo in. in 
diameter is suggested by expert heating engineers for 
anything below a lo h. p. boiler. If a 50 h. p. boiler is 
used a 20 in. diameter should be built. The height of 
the stack will vary between 25 ft. if soft coal is burned, 
and 50 ft. for hard coaL 

Steam is employed in all places over, say, 40,000 or 
50,000 sq. ft. of glass. If hot water is used, the force 
system is preferable to the gravity system; excavations 
for the boiler are then seldom necessary, thus saving labor 
and expense. With the steamtrap system some dip or 
excavation would be essential in order to catch the water 
of condensation. 

As to boilers, it is important that these have a deep 
fire box, that is, deep from the top to the grate, so that all 
the gases from the coal may be properly consumed. Auto- 
matic draught regulators are advisable. Sectional boilers 
are excellent inasmuch as they can be added to as the 
area of glass increases. In any case, the most efficient 
boilers are those that give the longest passage for the 
heat, flames, or burning gases over the water area, or 
tubes of the boiler. Thin waterways are quickly heated, 
but they must, of course, be strong enough to last a reason- 
able time and prevent bursts. Sectional boilers should be 
covered with asbestos. 



FUEL AND HEATING 229 

In regard to fuel, records show that an average of 
1 8 to 20 tons of anthracite coal was the amount used 
during an ordinary firing season of seven months, November 
to May, for a greenhouse having 3000 sq. ft. of exposed 
glass, to maintain a temperature of S5 deg. to 60 deg. 
This would be at the rate of six or seven tons per 1000 sq. 
ft. for the Winter and Spring seasons to maintain a tempera- 
ture suitable for Carnations. 

The price of coal varies, but in Pennsylvania hard or 
anthracite coal costs in the neighborhood of $5.50 per ton, 
carload lots; soft or bituminous coal costs about S2.75 or 
$2.80 a ton, carload lots, f.o.b. mine. The users of bi- 
tuminous coal should endeavor to place their orders in 
the early Spring direct with the mines or their authorized 
agents, and demand that the coal selected shall be of even 
quahty throughout the whole shipment, necessitating the 
order being filled from the same mine. Several growers 
can sometimes purchase co-operatively and so secure dis- 
counts. In many ways this is a businesslike proceeding. 
An analysis of the coal can also be procured, and protests 
have force and advantages are gained by means of co- 
operative buying. 

The analysis of a good, soft coal apphcable for florists' 
use is as follows: Volatile and combustible matter, 20 per 
cent, to 30 per cent.; fixed carbon, 65 per cent, to 75 per 
cent.; ash, not over 7 per cent.; moisture (when weighed) 
not over i per cent; British thermal units, 14,300. Soft 
coal has little effect in clouding the glass of the houses with 
soot and dirt if the chimney is sufficiently high. If 
anthracite is used, choose the larger sizes if no night fireman 
is employed, or where a low pressure is carried. Where a 
high pressure of steam is necessary the smaller and cheaper 
grades can be used economically, but this necessitates a 



230 FUEL AND HEATING 

chimney of sufficient height to create a good draught, 
but the chimney should be so situated as not to suffer 
from natural currents blowing over it, if this can be avoided. 
Such currents arise from the presence of nearby hills 
and sometimes cause downdraughts. 

In the choice and use of fuel every precaution should 
be exercised to see that your good money is not being 
blown up the chimney. The whole question of the choice 
of boiler, the heating arrangements, and the proper use of 
fuel and of careful firing, is one of the most important as 
to the profit or loss on his business that the grower has to 
consider. The notes in this chapter are therefore not 
to be taken as exhaustive, but merely suggestive, and 
expert advice, or the advice of some one of experience, 
should be procured before going into any large contract 
in regard to heating. 

A considerable saving of fuel is effected when the 
heating is done from a central plant, and the boilers, 
mains, and other pipes properly placed, and insulated if 
necessary. Examine occasionally the furnace or combustion 
chamber to see that it is not getting clogged. Blowing 
off the steam boiler once a week is advised. A good fire- 
man means much to the success of any plant growing 
concern. 



RESULT OF ATTACK BY APHIS 



231 




Result of Attack by Aphis 
A, ends of leaves shrivelled; B, buds fuzzy, scaly and dry 



CHAPTER XV 



Insects, Diseases and Other Pests 

Happily the Carnation is not subject to quite so 
many insect pests as the Rose is, but it has its full share. 
The three most troublesome, undoubtedly, are aphis or 
plant louse, red spider and thrips. To a lesser extent the 
plants are attacked occasionally by the Rose beetle and 
Rose chafer, while the Carnation mite {Perviculopsis 
graminum) does harm to the flower buds by puncturing 
them, and also by carrying fungus spores. Damaged buds 
must be at once picked off" and burned. Stigmanose, those 
yellow spots on the leaves, is really caused by the biting of 
thrips and greenfly (aphis), this latter being undoubtedly 
the most persistent and worst insect pest of any. 

aphis, red spider, thrips 

Long before the grower can see these lice they may be 
at work well into the center of the growing point of the 
shoots, and it is only when the leaves begin to develop 
that the pitted appearance and the dried-up, sickened look 
of the points of the leaves shows the result of the previous 
draining of the juices by the hidden foe. 

Examples of the kind of contorted growth we get when 
the plants are badly attacked by aphis are shown in the 
illustrations on pages io8 and 231. The flower buds in the 
latter example were a mere mass of dried looking scales 
that never would come to anything. To deal with aphis, 




Leaves Damaged by Aphides and Thrips 



234 INSECTS, DISEASES AND OTHER PESTS 

therefore, it is necessary to be constantly on the watch and 
to act on the adage, " Prevention is better than cure." 
Fumigate the house at intervals of a week or ten days with 
any of the well recognized nicotine fumigants that are 
on the market, or spray with any of the nicotine solutions 
several days in succession, then skip a day and continue 
again for two days and thereafter fumigate or syringe 
at regular intervals until every trace of them has van- 
ished. 

In the case of red spider, which gains headway some- 
times in Winter when the houses have to be kept closed, 
with the heat up, spray the plants with a salt water solu- 
tion, half an ounce of salt to a gallon of water; this to be 
done as often as necessary until the pest is got rid of, and 
thereafter once in three weeks. By means of forceful 
syringing through the hose the plants, as a rule, can be kept 
free of red spider. As an alternative to the salt spray, use 
a sulphur spray or dust the plants with sulphur; the salt, 
however, is preferable. 

In the case of thrips, the same methods apphed for the 
prevention or eradication of aphis holds good, or a sweetened 
poison spray consisting of two pounds of brown sugar to 
two tablespoonfuls of Paris green in three gallons of water 
may be tried. Another method is to use one ounce of whale 
oil soap in a gallon of water. Badly injured tops should 
be pinched out and destroyed. 

The Rose beetle and chafer may be combated either 
by syringing or hand picking, or by spraying with arsenate 
of lead, which may be had in the form of a paste and can 
be used according to directions on the package. You can- 
not begin to have success until the .plants are clean and 
healthy and kept so. 



INSECTS, DISEASES AND OTHER PESTS 235 

SNAILS 

Snails are sometimes a pest to the Carnation grower 
and do harm, especially to the young plants. Regular 
light dustings with hme, and soot, each used separately 
are recommended, but these must be persistent until the 
snails have been cleared away. Or traps may be formed 
of slices of Potato laid about on the surface of the soil, 
these being gone over each morning and the snails thrown 
into hot water or otherwise destroyed. 

BUDS ATTACKED BY CUT WORMS 

The remedy for this pest is to visit the plants at 
night with a lantern and to remove the cut worms by hand, 
or, as an alternative, lay pieces of broken pots or similar 
material about at the base of the plants and uncover these 
the next morning; the cut worms congregate under these 
shelters. Thirdly, lay piles of sweetened bran about, 
these to be mixed with a little arsenic or Paris green, one 
part of the latter to six of the bran. 

EFFECT OF GAS ON CARNATIONS 

Cases are not infrequent in which gas from street mains 
through leak or other cause permeates the ground, and in 
Winter, when the surface of the street or uncovered land 
is frozen hard this gas finds an exit through heated green- 
houses where the soil is not ice-bound and is, therefore, 
permeable. Much damage has been done from time to 
time. The first signs of poisoning by gas are when the 
plants begin to sicken, the flower goes to sleep, foliage 
turns yellow and the growth wilts. Leaks even forty feet 
away may give trouble in the manner described. 



236 



INSECTS, DISEASES AND OTHER PESTS 



BUDS NOT OPENING 



This trouble has been attributed to the use of too 
much nitrate which causes the buds to remain tight. It 
would seem as though over-development took place as a 






l#i«|i ^1 >»f ♦pf 



N. J. Ex. Stat. 
Dissection of two adventitious buds from the center of a "bull-headed" flower. The 
latter is a monstrous or abnormally large type of double bloom. In the center of these 
flowers occur the adventitious buds inside the whorls of petals. " This is a form of 
axillary prolification." and may be due to overfeeding or other irregularity 

consequence of the over-fertihzation, and the flower is 
thereby unable to expand thoroughly and naturally. It 
is suggested in such cases that the soil be dusted with 
lime and watered freely in order to carry away the fertilizer 
and cut away all these firm buds. The succeeding lot will 
come better. 

SPLIT CALYX TROUBLE 

There are many varieties more or less susceptible to 
splitting. In the case of Bonfire, Pink Delight, White 
Wonder, Gloriosa and St. Nicholas, the petals not be- 



INSECTS, DISEASES AND OTHER PESTS 237 

ing SO numerous, grow straight up through the calyx 
without bursting it, while others, such as the Enchantress 
type, and Ward, are subject to spHtting, and one has to 
be very careful in their growth. The increased amount 
of petalage causes the calyx to spHt, as the calyx has not 
always advanced with the flower, and the overabundance 
of petals contained in the small calyx causes the latter to 
spht badly. The calyx is easily affected by thrips or 
conditions of temperature, and in this way receives a check 
which prevents its growing in proportion to the petals as 
they expand. While no one can absokitely prevent sphts, 
nearl'y all the present day varieties can be grown in such a 
way as to reduce the trouble to a minimum by careful ob- 
servation. Places that suffer most with the trouble are 
where the houses run north and south instead of east and 
west. In the former mentioned houses, during the short 
Winter days, the temperature rises rapidly until 1 1 a. m., 
then drops rapidly from that time until 2 p.m., the sun at 
noontime being in direct hne with the ridge, and casting 
shadows over every plant in the house, after which time 
there is another rise until sunset, and if the man in charge 
is not famihar with these conditions he will have a fine 
crop of " sphts." 

Diseases * 

" STEM ROT " (rHIZOCTONIA SP.) 

There are two recognized stem rots of the Carnation, 
one called the " dry stem rot," due to a species of Fusa- 
rium; the other, called the " wet stem rot," caused by the 
fungus Rhizoctonia. To more sharply distinguish these 

*By George L. Peltier, Floricultural Pathologist, University of Illinois Agri- 
cultural Experiment Station, Urbana, III. (Reprinted from The Florists' Exchange, 
an. and Feb., 1914.) 



238 INSECTS, DISEASES AND OTHER PESTS 

two diseases it was suggested by us some time ago that 
the first be called '* branch rot," for it rarely if at all attacks 
the stem of the Carnation plant, while the latter could be 
properly called '' stem rot." 

The stem rot which has caused the Carnation growers 
so much trouble, and which has so often been called the 
most serious disease of Carnations, is caused by a fungus 
called Rhizoctonia. This disease was first reported on 
Carnation and other plants about 1895. About 1900, 
several investigators pubhshed a number of papers on the 
rhizoctonial diseases of Potatoes, Beets and on a large 
number of other vegetables and field crops. Mention was 
also made of this disease on Carnation, Sweet William, 
China Aster and other floricultural crops, both in the 
field and greenhouse. Since this time little work has 
been done on the " stem rots " of floricultural plants caused 
by Rhizoctonia, although this disease has been causing 
considerable damage to a number of plants, especially the 
Carnation. 

The symptoms of this disease are probably well known 
to most Carnation growers; the fungus usually attacks 
the plant at its crown, that is, where the stem enters the 
ground. It may enter at the surface of the ground, occa- 
sionally above, or below. From records kept the last two 
years it has been found that a plant with a single stem 
breaking about 2 in. from the ground is much more re- 
sistant to the fungus than a plant forking at or below the 
surface. It has also been observed that the former is 
generally attacked about an inch below the ground, while 
the latter forking just at or below the ground's surface, 
is not attacked by the fungus at the main stem. Usually 
one branch rots off first followed by the others in turn. 
At times several branches below ground like this may be 



INSECTS, DISEASES AND OTHER PESTS 



239 




Stem-rot Disease (Rhizoctonia sp.) 



240 INSECTS, DISEASES AND OTHER PESTS 

rotted off at the same time. Still another generahzation 
can be made. The rotting of a plant with a single stem is 
always general, that is, the disease after it is estabhshed 
will extend from the roots to the branches, while in a dis- 
eased plant which is forked below ground the rot is always 
localized at the fork and seldom progresses into the main 
stem toward the roots. Therefore, it would be more 
advantageous to put in plants with a single stem which 
break at least i in. to 2 in. above the surface of the soiL 

There is a well-known statement that setting the 
plants too deeply will cause them to be much more sus- 
ceptible to stem rot. It does not make so much difference 
how deeply plants with a good, long, single stem are set, 
so long as they break above ground. However, if plants 
with a short stem, breaking low, are planted so that the 
fork is below ground, the fungus has a much better chance 
to attack the plants. The reason for this is obvious for 
they can be much more easily injured in cultivating, and 
the fungus does not encounter as thick a bark on the 
branches as on the main stem. 

Usually the first indication of the disease is a paler 
green color of the entire plant or of a single branch. The 
plant does not wilt at once, for the lighter green color of the 
foliage may be noticed for a week or so before the actual 
wilting takes place. During cloudy weather the plant 
may not wilt for two weeks, and sometimes even longer, 
although the stem may be completely rotted. On sunny 
days the plants wilt much faster. During the course of 
our work on this disease, it appears that transpiration and 
temperature play a great part in the length of life of the 
plants after they are infected. 

If the stem of a plant that shows the first sign of 
wilting is pressed just above the soil, a soft area is usually 



INSECTS, DISEASES AND OTHER PESTS 24I 

felt and a slight twist is sufficient to slough off the bark, 
beneath which is usually a shmy, wet area which gives 
this rot its characteristic name. Often, however, the 
stem is dry at the point of attack and upon breaking ofP 
the stem the fibres seem to be separated giving a brush-hke 
appearance to the broken stem in contrast to the firm stem 
of the branch rot. 

There seems to be little or no damping off of the 
Carnation cuttings in the cutting bench, due to the fungus 
Rhizoctonia. In fact, we have never seen Rhizoctonia 
attack Carnation cuttings in the bench, although experi- 
ments have shown that the fungus will readily kill the 
cuttings. Stem rot, then, does not seem to be trouble- 
some until the young plants are put into the field. During 
certain seasons little or no stem rot will be found, while 
at other times the whole field will be infected. This, of 
course, depends to a large extent on the weather conditions 
governing both the growth of the fungus and Carnation 
plants. 

From observations in the Carnation field during the 
recent Summers, the following conclusions, some of which 
are doubtless well known, but which will bear repeat- 
ing, have been reached: 

(i) When plants are put out in the field in the 
Spring they are very liable to be set too deeply, which 
perhaps may bring about some morphological difference 
in the stem just at the surface of the ground, causing 
the plant to become more susceptible to stem rot. Great 
care should be exercised in planting the plants to the 
required depth. The same precautions should be taken 
when the plants are taken into the house in the Fall. 

(2) From data collected from diseased plants in the 
field, it was noticed that a plant with a single stem which 



242 INSECTS, DISEASES AND OTHER PESTS 

breaks i in. to 2 in. above the surface of the soil is much 
less liable to stem rot than a plant breaking just at or 
shghtly below the ground surface. The reason is again 
obvious. The branches of a plant forking at the surface 
of the ground are very easily broken off in different ways. 
They generally break at the base, making a wound, through 
which fungi can easily enter. The wound is later covered 
with soil, whereupon it is an easy matter for the fungus 
Rhizoctonia to enter the exposed tissue and produce stem 
rot. A large number of plants examined show that in the 
majority of cases the fungus gains entrance through a wound 
of this kind. 

(3) Cultivating too deeply and throwing the soil up 
around the plants also produces a condition quite favor- 
able to Rhizoctonia. Great care should be exercised not 
to injure any of the plants with the cultivator. 

(4) If stem rot is present in a Carnation field all 
dead or wilted plants should be pulled up as soon as noticed 
and the soil surrounding the plants should be soaked with 
a fungicide, preferably formaldehyde. It can be applied 
in the dilution of i :2oo. This fungicide is very desirable 
in this work as it will kill the mycelium of the fungus 
Rhizoctonia in the ground, and the fumes escaping from 
the soil quickly do not injure it in any way. Although 
it is somewhat expensive, it will give returns on the in- 
vestment for a number of years, for if the fungus is killed 
the first year, the plants will be free from *' stem rot " the 
second season. 

The most critical point in the life of the Carnation 
plant is reached when it is transferred from the field to 
the house. The benching of the plant brings its vitality 
to the lowest point and makes it very susceptible to dis- 
ease. The fungus may be brought in on the plant or may 



INSECTS, DISEASES AND OTHER PESTS 243 

be in the soil brought in from the field. Healthy plants 
put in infected soil will be killed in from two to four weeks, 
depending on temperature and fight. Experiments show 
that the fungus will grow through the soil at the rate of 
one-half inch every 24 hours, which makes it simply a 
matter of a few days, comparatively speaking, until the 
neighboring plants, and finally the entire bench, has become 
infected. 

As a rule most of the growers bench Carnation plants 
in August, when the temperature is still quite high. This 
condition in itself seems to be the most important factor 
in the spread and development of the disease, especially 
during the first month after the plants are transplanted. 
Again when the steam is turned on in the houses the number 
of stem rot plants will increase materially. During the 
Winter very little stem rot will develop if cultural condi- 
tions are good. However, when the temperature rises in 
the Spring and the steam is turned off, another point in 
the life of the plant is reached when it is very susceptible 
to disease. The low vitality of the plant at this period is 
responsible, in the main, for such a condition. 

The successful passing over of the three most critical 
periods in the life of the plant in the house depends a great 
deal on the temperature. Of course, it is very hard to 
control the temperature at these points, but with careful 
attention to ventilation and cultural conditions, these 
periods may be tided over without serious injury. 

One of the most important factors in the control of 
stem rot in the greenhouse is the careful selection of Carna- 
tion plants when brought in from the field. Any plant 
that shows the least signs of disease, as well as all unhealthy 
or damaged plants, should be discarded. The matter of 
selecting plants is, therefore, of prime importance, in fact 



244 INSECTS, DISEASES AND OTHER PESTS 

more important than the regulating of the temperature in 
the houses. 

We come now to the question of: ''How does the 
Jungus Rhizoctonia get into the house ? " Sometimes the 
plants in the field will show no signs of disease at all and 
still when the plants are brought into the house a large 
number will be lost. There is no question that the fungus 
Rhizoctonia is brought in with the soil and manure from 
the field or compost bed. Even so-called " virgin soil " 
will harbor the fungus. The fungus Rhizoctonia has a 
large range of hosts among field crops, vegetables, flori- 
cultural plants and weeds. Experiments have shown that 
the Rhizoctonia attacking one plant is the same form that 
attacks another. 

The fungus Rhizoctonia has been found attacking 
weeds like the Thistle, Lamb's-quarters, Pigweed, Rag- 
weed, yellow Mustard, Dock and many others which are 
generally found growing in fields and pastures. The 
same fungus also attacks Clover, which is usually sown 
in sod. It is clearly seen then that the soil used for com- 
post is, as a rule, infected with the fungus Rhizoctonia, 
which causes the stem rot of Carnations. When the sod 
is composted with manure, the fungus is able to live for 
several years, so that it is still present when the soil is 
brought into the house. 

The use of limestone in the compost will help ma- 
terially in the suppression of the fungus, while if the 
Carnation field and houses become badly infected the 
grower must resort to sterilization of the soil. A number 
of experiments are in progress and the results to date 
tend to show that steam sterilization is the best means 
of killing the fungus in the soil that is brought into the 
house. 



INSECTS, DISEASES AND OTHER PESTS 245 

" BRANCH ROT " (drY STEM ROt) (fUSARIUM SP.) 

This disease was reported about the same time as the 
stem rot and has developed along with it, causing more or 
less confusion. Observations have shown that this disease 
is not as serious or infectious as the stem rot, although it 
is widely scattered and almost every grower has had more 
or less experience with it. 

Branch rot is due to a species of Fusarium, which 
seems to work in the interior of the stem, and to cause the 
death of the larger branches and often the main stem. The 
stem and branches when attacked by this fungus gradually 
wilt and cause the leaves to turn a yellowish green. This 
yellowing or dying of the branch is rather rapid compared 
with stem rot. In the branch rot, the stem remains firm 
after death, although wilted and shriveled, and the bark 
does not slough off, while the tissue beneath remains firm. 

The fungus may attack the plant at any time during 
its life. The method by which the fungus obtains entrance 
into the plant stem has not been entirely determined, but 
it doubtless gains entrance through a wound or by first 
estabhshing itself upon dead or inactive tissue and then 
penetrating the living tissue. The outer leaves of the 
cutting die soon after the cutting is put in and if these 
leaves are at all moist, they afford an excellent means of 
entrance for the fungus into the tender tissues. The 
plant itself may be injured in numerous ways, all of which 
afford an opportunity for the diseased organism to enter 
the plant. The fungus is not hkely to cause injury to a 
sound plant through soil infection. However, it is un- 
doubtedly truly parasitic at times. 

One source of the disease is the cutting bench. It 
attacks cuttings very easily, and in this way the disease 



246 INSECTS, DISEASES AND OTHER PESTS 

is bpread. The fungus easily attacks the cut surfaces 
causing them to lose their color and dry up, the cuttings 
finally yellowing and dying. The drying up of the leaves 
progresses downward until it reaches the stem. Here the 
fungus infects the stem and causes the rotting off of the 
cutting at the surface of the ground. 

In many cases only the outer leaves are attacked, but 
sometimes the young leaves dry up and die. The fungus 
always produces a slimy, wet rot which is quite character- 
istic. Large areas 4 ft. and 5 ft. long in the bench have 
been seen in which all the cuttings have rotted off due to 
the fungus. To prevent the spread of the disease in this 
way, only cuttings from healthy plants should be used. 
The spores may lodge on the cuttings and when the young 
plants are transferred to pots the spores may germinate 
and find a wound to enter the tissues and so cause the dying 
of several branches or the whole plant. Again the same 
thing may hold true with the plants when they are set out 
in the field. The disease in the field is not of an infectious 
character, for diseased plants are often found isolated 
among healthy ones. 

When the plants are benched in the Fall the fungus 
brought in from the field may cause some damage, for the 
plants seem to be more subject to infection in the houses 
than in the field. As its development is somewhat similar, 
the same precautions should be applied here as have been 
given for the stem rot. 

CARNATION " YELLOWS " 

" Yellows," as we shall call this disease for the present, 
to distinguish it from " Bacteriosis " and " Stigmanose," 
is widely distributed throughout the country, and seems 
to be increasing rapidly. The trouble starts in the young 



INSECTS, DISEASES AND OTHER PESTS 247 

leaves and is first noticed as small pale green areas varying 
in size and shape. On holding an infected leaf up to the 
light the dots appear translucent. These spots become 
more distinct and turn yellow, while the tissue beneath 
collapses. The trouble is confined not only to the leaves, 
but in badly infected plants, the branches and flower stems 
may be covered with the yellow elongated spots. 

Apparently several distinct forms of yellows can be 
recognized, which difl'er in general appearance and subse- 
quent behavior. The early stages of the first type consist 
of small translucent dots, scattered irregularly through the 
leaf. At first they are a paler green than the surrounding 
tissue, but distinctly dehneated upon it. The spots in- 
crease more or less rapidly until they reach a diameter of 
I to 8 mm. Most of these spots are approximately circular, 
but may be irregular in outline, rarely elongated. Few 
of the spots coalesce in this form. This type is especially 
noticeable on the White Enchantress. A single leaf may 
have from one to two to fifty or more spots, depending on the 
extent of infection. Another characteristic of this first type 
is, that the spots do not tend to make the leaves brittle. 

The development of the second form is similar to the 
one above, except that while still in the early stages the 
spots coalesce and become very much elongated, so that a 
single spot may be i in. to 2 in. or more in length. On 
badly infected leaves these elongated areas run parallel 
to the midrib and have a sort of flaky appearance. The 
leaves become very brittle and are easily snapped ofl". In 
the later stage the cells beneath the infected areas collapse, 
the spot becomes sunken and finally turns brown as the 
leaf dies. This type of yellows is found in the Beacon and 
Pink Enchantress and is as a rule much more destructive 
than the first type. 



248 INSECTS, DISEASES AND OTHER PESTS 

A third form may be mentioned here, which is found 
only on the red flowered varieties, as Beacon. Here 
the areas in the late stages take on a purplish color and 
are slightly raised. It is not known whether this form is 
the same as the others or not. The red flowered varieties 
are susceptible to both types. 

As new shoots arise they become infected, while the 
old leaves at the base of the plant die ofl*, giving the plant 
a very diseased appearance. While yellows does not kill 
the plants outright, it renders them useless, for they will 
produce only a few imperfect flowers, and in only slight 
attacks of yellows it retards the growth of the plant. 

Microscopical observations show no rupture of the 
epidermis and with a lens the bloom on the leaf above 
the spots appears to be undisturbed. The chloroplasts 
are lighter in the diseased areas but do not seem degenerated. 
No bacteria or fungi are present except when the epidermis 
of the leaf is broken down. No insect punctures, as have 
been described by Woods, have been observed in the true 
yellows, in fact no collapsed tissue can be traced to the 
epidermis except in later stages, when the epidermis has 
been broken down. 

No explanation as to the cause of this disease can be 
given at present. However, preliminary experiments 
have shown that the disease is probably not transmissible 
from one plant to another, but that it is carried from season 
to season by means of infected cuttings. Until the cause 
has been determined the suggestion is made that no cuttings 
from plants that show yellows be taken; and if any plants 
show these spots at any time from the cutting bench stage 
to the time they are brought into the house in the Fall 
they should be discarded. In this way the disease to a 
large extent will be eliminated. 



INSECTS, DISEASES AND OTHER PESTS 



249 





CO 





03 



*^c**^*' 






250 INSECTS, DISEASES AND OTHER PESTS 

CARNATION BUD ROT (SPOROTRICHUM POAE) 

The bud rot of Carnations Is a disease that did not 
receive much attention prior to 1908. In this disease, 
some buds deviate only slightly from the normal, others 
fail to expand to perfect flowers, while some never open. 
In severe attacks the flowers wither and turn brown. 
The petals wither first, followed by the other parts. A 
soft rot develops in the buds, resulting in a discoloration 
of all the parts. In some cases, the fungus can be seen 
with the naked eye. There is commonly found associated 
with this fungus a mite which has no casual connection 
with the disease, but which may help in the distribution 
of the fungus. Here again control measures depend on 
ideal cultural conditions for the plants. Although bud rot 
may develop in sanitary houses, it is to be feared most 
where sanitary conditions do not prevail. The control 
and prevention depends then on the plants making a satis- 
factory growth under the best conditions possible. Af- 
fected buds should be gathered and burned. Susceptible 
varieties should not be grown where the disease prevails. 

CARNATION FAIRY RING (hETEROSPORIUM ECHINULATUM) 

(berk) 

Occasionally this trouble is reported from various 
parts of the country. The disease is characterized by 
circular spots, varying in diameter bearing more or less 
concentric zones of a dark mold. The leaves, especially 
the younger ones, stems, and sometimes the calyx of the 
flower, may become afl'ected. In some instances the whole 
top of the plant becomes moldy. Infected refuse and 
leaves should be burned. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture 
will also check the disease. 



INSECTS, DISEASES AND OTHER PESTS 25 I 

CARNATION *' SPOT " (SEPTORIA DIANTHi) (dESM.) 

Like rust this spot disease has been known a long 
time and is widely distributed. Inquiries show that at 
times it causes considerable damage. The *' spot " is 
characterized by an oblong to circular brownish center, 
bordered by a purple band. The band is usually well 
defined near the center, but its outer edge diffuses with 
the green of the leaf. The whitish to brownish center 
is usually dotted with small minute black spots. These 
are parts of the fruiting bodies that produce the spores. 
The disease is particularly abundant upon the lower portion 
of the leaves and the internodes of the Carnation. The 
diseased leaves curl up or become distorted. This disease 
can be controlled by growing the plants under the best 
cultural conditions, paying especial attention to ventilation 
and watering. 

CARNATION RUST (UROMYCES CARYOPHYLLINUS) (SCHRK.) 

A number of years ago Carnation rust was one of the 
most serious diseases of Carnation plants. Today, although 
it is present to some extent, one need not be alarmed when 
it appears in the greenhouse. The decrease in virulence 
is due in part to the selection of resistant varieties. It 
was early seen in a study of this disease that some varieties 
were more susceptible under the same conditions than 
others. This gave some of the growers an excellent oppor- 
tunity for the selection of resistant varieties, so that now^ 
we have plants that when grown under normal greenhouse 
conditions will be very resistant to rust. However, these 
same plants when grown under unfavorable conditions will 
be very susceptible to rust, so that in the control of rust, 
normal cultural conditions are necessary. 



252 



MISCELLANEOUS 



CARNATION ANTHRACNOSE (VOULUTELLA DIANTHi) (aTK.) 

This disease is quite widely distributed, but does 
not seem to be as serious a pest as formerly. It attacks 
the lower leaves, especially those parts more or less in 
contact with a damp soil. The affected parts are pale and 
dotted with minute black areas which are the fruiting bodies. 
This disease is more severe in the cutting bench, injuring 
the cuttings so that they cannot be used. On the older 
plants if allowed to go unchecked the fungus will spread 
very rapidly, and so weaken the plant that the production 
of flowers will be materially checked. This disease can be 
checked by proper drainage and ventilation. 









RECORD 


OF SUNSHINE 














Winter, 1904-5 


Winter, 1905-6 




Dec. 


Jan. 


Feb. 


Dec. 


Jan. 


Feb. 


UNITED STATES 


1- 
% 


6 
fin 


2 




. 6 

Ph 


03 

3 



6 
a> CO 

(U 


(-< 
3 



fl5 
*i3 
fl'co 
« 

PM 

45 
53 
28 
53 
42 
43 
53 
60 

15 
55 
75 
45 
20 
8 
49 

15 

37 
34 
24 
25 
20 


% 


C^ 


2 

3 



Ai 


Boston, Mass 

NewYork, N. Y. . . 

Buffalo, N. Y 

Washington, D. C. 

Toledo, Ohio 

Cincinnati, Ohio.. . 

Chicago. Ill 

St. Louis, Mo 

Soult Ste. Marie, 
Mich 


107 
119 

50 
100 

66 
136 

94 
141 

58 

97 

160 

110 

40 

61 

137 

28.1 
61.7 
55.9 
68.5 
70.6 
67.2 


38 
41 
18 
34 
23 
46 
33 
48 

22 
35 
56 
42 
15 
23 
46 

11 

27 
22 
25 
26 
29 


150 
159 
78 
105 
100 
100 
111 
143 

84 
158 
166 
104 
54 
94 
133 

69.1 
119.4 
140.4 
83.8 
79.6 
79.1 


51 
53 
27 
35 
34 
33 
38 
47 

30 
55 
56 
37 
20 
33 
44 

25 

45 
53 

28 
28 
33 


188 
182 
164 
134 
118 
148 
158 
160 

156 
210 
205 
206 
137 
163 
192 

135.2 
166.0 
156.7 
116.7 
120.8 
110.5 


63 
61 
56 
44 
40 
49 
53 
53 

54 
72 
69 
71 
48 
56 
64 

47 
59 
55 
40 
41 
44 


127 
153 
79 
156 
120 
127 
151 
175 

41 
150 
217 
121 
52 
23 
144 

38.5 
93.1 

86.7 
67.7 
68.8 
42.3 


144 
150 

93 
119 

80 
106 
104 
138 

61 
133 
170 
134 
56 
49 
140 

38.3 

118.3 

91.2 

88.0 
87.5 
59.8 


49 
50 
34 
39 
27 
35 
35 
45 

22 
46 
57 

48 
20 
17 
46 

14 

44 
34 
29 
32 
25 


192 
216 
185 
192 
145 
187 
171 
180 

142 
194 
195 
166 
114 
142 
79 

171.1 
127.1 
149.0 
138.7 
132.3 
105.6 


65 
72 
63 
64 
49 
62 
58 
60 

49 


St. Paul, Minn. . . . 

Omaha, Neb 

Helena, Mont 

Spokane, Wash. . . . 

Portland, Ore 

San Francisco, Cal. 

CANADA 

Victoria, B. C 

Brandon, Man. . . . 
Winnipeg, Man.. . . 

Toronto, Ont 

Ottawa, Ont 

Montreal, Que 


66 
65 
58 
40 
49 
26 

41 

45 
53 
47 
45 
43 



MISCELLANEOUS 253 

Classification of Pink Carnations. — The defini- 
tion of the varieties of Carnations according to their 
shades of pink or red as agreed upon by the American 
Carnation Society is as follows: i, True flesh pink; 2, 
hght pink, embracing the shades from Gloriosa to and 
including Winsor; 3, medium pink to embrace shades 
from Winsor down to and including Mrs. C. W. Ward; 
4, dark pink — anything darker than Mrs. Ward. 

Dyeing Carnations Green. — Green Carnations are 
still in demand to some extent for St. Patrick's Day, March 
I 7. Popular opinion, however, would seem to be turning 
against them. For a dye, take ten cents' worth each of 
anahne blue and anahne yellow, and add two quarts of 
water, and bring to boihng point. This will make one 
gallon. Don't put the flower in until the liquid has cooled. 

Grading Blooms.- — In the New York market the 
Carnations are graded as Fancies, Extras and Firsts. 
The Fancies are all perfect blooms, 2% in. to 33^2 ii^- across, 
with stems 16 in. to 24 in. long; the Extras are composed 
of flowers that are smaller, but still forming a distinct class 
apart from the Shorts, which form the third section. 

Temperature of Icebox, and Time Carnations 
Will Keep. — The correct temperature for an icebox for 
keeping cut flowers is 40 to 50 deg. If the icebox has no 
provision for a change of air. Carnations will go to sleep 
sooner than in a box where there is such a provision. 
Furthermore, if the Carnations are placed on the floor of 
an unventilated box where injurious gases settle, and the 
air is consequently most contaminated, they will go to 
sleep sooner than when on the upper shelf. A clean, dry 
cellar, where the air is pure, and which has a temperature 
of about 50 deg., is a good place in which to keep Carna- 
tions. Fresh Carnations of the fancy and medium grades. 



254 MISCELLANEOUS 

bought in the wholesale market, should keep four days in 
the icebox in the retail store. Fresh Carnations of good 
quaHty which have not been injured by either cold or heat 
ought not to go to sleep the first or second day in the 
icebox. It is, of course, a well-known fact that some 
varieties of Carnations tend to go to sleep early, and such 
varieties should be discarded. 

Fumigating w ith Tobacco. — Those who employ the 
proprietory compounds, as advertised, will find directions 
on the packages, but questions are sometimes asked about 
the use of tobacco stems and tobacco dust. Not a few re- 
ceptacles have been invented and are now on the market, 
some for holding the tobacco stems while they are burning, 
and some for holding the powder or dust. Greenhouses are 
fumigated best at night, not when the full sunshine is on 
the plants. The tobacco stems are usually moistened with 
water that they may not burn too fast, and are placed either 
in the receptacles above spoken of, or directly on the soil or 
the concrete of the greenhouse paths, at different points 
along the paths. The stems or powder are then ignited and 
the greenhouses are closed as tightly as possible. The smoke 
from the stems or powder can be left in through the night, 
or the doors and ventilators can be opened a little to allow 
it to escape after two or three hours. The rule is to use 
enough of the stems or powder so as to produce a moderately 
thick smoke. It is much better to fumigate greenhouses 
moderately and often than to make very heavy fumigations 
at any one time, since the latter is liable to injure the plants. 

Liquid Manure for Carnations. — Dustings of lime, 
wood ashes or various chemical fertilizers may be given as 
elsewhere explained; but for a liquid application use cow 



MISCELLANEOUS 255 

manure, a bushel measure to lOO gallons of water. Soot 
in a bag, i peck to 30 gallons of water, furnishes a clear, 
liquid feitilizer. 

Potash for Weak-stemmed Carnations. — Weak- 
stemmed Carnations are benefited by a light dressing of 
sulphate of potash, Y2 oz. per sq. yd., or wood ashes from 
hard wood which contain potash. Potash has the character- 
istic of adding stabihty and strength to stems and giving 
generally a tone and color to the foliage. 

Phosphoric Acid can be used at the rate of Y2 oz. 
to the gallon of water with good results. Like potash, but 
in another way, it stiffens growth and inchnes the plant to 
produce flowers and seeds, should seeds be developing. 
Iron, in the form of sulphate of iron, has an influence for 
good on the color of the foliage, and hme, given as a light 
dressing of slaked lime, produces the eff"ect of sweetening 
the soil, and is utilized to some extent directly by the roots. 

Hen Manure for Carnations. — Poultry manures 
contain a fair percentage of nitrogen, phosphate and potash. 
One peck of hen manure to about five gallons of w^ater is 
the proper proportion to use as a liquid fertilizer. Allow 
this to stand for about a week, after which it will be fer- 
mented. Use this liquid alternatively with a mulch of cow 
manure. 

Nitrate of Soda. — Use one ounce to four gallons of 
water about once every two weeks when the plants are well 
into bloom and require support to continue flowering. 

Directions for Taking Notes on Carnations. — 
Purchasers of novelties ask themselves the following 
questions, among others, in regard to the variety: i, 



256 MISCELLANEOUS 

Does the plant make a large or small amount of grass 
(foliage) ? 2, Does it produce many cuttings on blossom 
stems, or must stock plants (not allowed to bloom) be 
grown to obtain cuttings ? 3, Does it propagate easily ? 
4, Are better results obtained from field-grown plants or 
from those set out directly from the pots on the greenhouse 
benches? 5, Is it an early bloomer? 6, Size of flower? 
How built ? Fringed or toothed petals ? 7, Color ? 
Fragrance ? 8, Length of stem ? 9, Bursting of calyx ? 
10, Keeping quality of flowers? 11, General remarks on 
appearance and health. 12, Photographs to show half 
open bud and calyx, and fully opened blooms, and if 
feasible, an entire plant in bloom to show its general habit. 

Synonymy. — The following types or sections of the 
Carnation are all referable, in their origin, to Dianthus 
Caryophyllus: — Clove Gillyflower, Clove Pink, Picotee, 
Flaked, Self, Bizarre, Fancy, Border, Malmaison, Mar- 
guerite, Grenadin, Superflorens, Everblooming, Tree, Re- 
montant, Forcing Pink, Hybrid Perpetual Pink, Perpetual- 
flowering and Winter-flowering. The Pinks are variously 
described as Common Garden, Scotch, Hardy, Bunch, 
Grass, Cushion, Florists,' or Pheasant's-eye, but all so- 
called are referable to the species D. plumarius. Some- 
times the Sweet William is also called Bunch Pink. The 
annual China Pink (Dianthus Chinensis) is variously 
called Japan Pink, Indian Pink, Annual Pink, diadema- 
tus, laciniatus, or Heddewigii and stellaris, the last four 
names referring to well marked varieties. 



INDEX 



(For General Contents and List of Illustrations 
see pages g and lo.) 

Page 

Acknowledgments 5 

American Carnations in Europe 1 58 

American Carnation, origin 23 

Annual Carnations 179 

Anthracnose disease 252 

Aphis 232 

Arsenate of lead spray 234 

Bacteriosis in Carnations 246 

Bedding Plant, the American Carnation as a 168 

Beetles and chafers 232 

Benches, cement 222 

Benches for sub-irrigation 225 

Benches, kinds of 221 

Bibliography of the Carnation 46-50 

Blood as fertilizer 105 

Boilers 228 

Border Carnations 176 

Bordeaux mixture as a spray 250 

Branch rot disease 245 

Bran mixture for cut worms 23 5 

Bud rot 250 

Buds attacked by cutworms 235 

Buds not opening, cause of 236 

Business maxims 58 

Buying young stock 78 

Calendar of practical operations 68 

Calyx spHtting 236 

Carnation family, the 1 1-16 

Carnation, meaning of 20 



258 INDEX 

Page 

Carnations, pink, classification of 253 

Carnations, standard of points for 201 

Carrying over for a second year 113 

Caryophyacese, the natural order 16 

Cement benches 222 

Coal, price of 229 

Colors to grow 53 

Cost of production 54 

Crossbreeding and hybridizing 192 

Cultivation: 

Autumn treatment 104 

Benches, filling the 92 

Buying young stock 78 

Cut-back plants 75 

Cuttings after rooting 77 

Cuttings, types of 72, 73 

Disbudding 104 

Feeding 104 

Fertilizers, using 105, 236, 254 

Field culture 79 

Field, finisliing up in the 82 

Field stock and old plants in July 81 

Fumigating and spraying 108, 254 

Housing, getting ready for 82 

Lifting the plants 84 

Old plants in July 81 

Pinching 81, 97 

Planting indoors 92 

Planting in tiie field 79 

Planting in the houses 92 

Propagation 70-74 

Routine of 68-1 16 

Soil 85-87 

Spring treatment 1 1 1 

Steaming the soil 87 

Supports 98-103 

Summer treatment under glass 112 

Surplus field Carnations, utilizing 95 

Temperatures 109 



INDEX 259 

Page 
Cultivation — Continued. 

Treatment after planting 94 

Watering 104 

Winter treatment 109-1 1 1 

Cut-back plants 75 

Cuttings 72 

Cutworms, buds attacked by 235 

Dailledouze, John 24 

Development of the Carnation 17-50 

Dianthus, meaning of 20 

Dianthuses for the rock garden 14, 181 

Dianthuses naturalized in America 14 

Diseases 237 

Dorner, Frederick, his work 34 

Dyeing Carnations green 253 

England, American Carnations in 160 

English show blooms, ** dressing " 210 

Europe, American Carnations in i 58 

Exhibiting and judging Carnations 204 

Fairy ring disease 250 

Feeding 104 

Fertilization, danger of too much 236 

Fertilizers 105 

Field, finishing up in the 82 

Fisher, Peter 41 

Foreword 7 

France, American Carnations in i 58 

Fuel and heating 227 

Fumigating with tobacco 254 

Fusarium, disease caused by 245 

Gas, effect of, on Carnations 235 

Germany, American Carnations in 1 59 

Grading blooms 253 

Green Carnations 253 

Greenhouse, best type of 213 

Grenadin Carnation 18, 179 

Growing plants under glass all Summer 112 

Heating and fuel 227 

Hen manure for Carnations 255 



260 INDEX 

Page 

Hill, E. Gurney 39 

History of the American Carnation, a 30 years' survey 38 

Houses, best type of 213 

Hybridizing and crossbreeding 192 

Ice-box, temperature of, and time Carnations will keep 253 

Insects, diseases and other pests 232 

Judging and exhibiting Carnations 204 

Lawson, Enchantress and Beacon 40 

Layering Carnations 1 77 

Liquid manure 254 

Malmaison Carnations 18, 172 

Manure, cow and horse 105 

Marguerite Carnation 18, 179 

Mites on Carnations 232, 250 

Name " Dianthus," meaning of 20 

Nitrate of Soda 255 

Novelties, directions for taking notes on Carnations 255 

Packing and shipping 57, 62 

" Paradisus Terrestris," quotation from 18 

Paris green spray 234 

Parkinson, John 18 

Percentage of colors to grow 53 

Pests and diseases 232 

Phosphate, acid 105 

Phosphoric acid 255 

Pinks, hardy 181-183 

Piping for greenhouse, amount required 227 

Plant, the ideal Carnation 36 

Points for Carnations 201 

Potash for weak-stemmed Carnations 255 

Pot-grown Carnations 115 

Prices for Carnation blooms in Chicago and New York 55 

Profits on Carnations 51 

Propagating houses 219 

Propagation 70 

Red spider 232 

Retailer and wholesaler, the 57 

Rhizoctonia, disease caused by 239 

Riviera Carnations 18 



INDEX 261 

Page 

Rock garden, Dianthuses for the 181 

Rust on Carnations 251 

Salt spray for red spider 234 

Second year, carrying over for 113 

Sectional cultural treatises 1 17-1 57 

Alabama 129 

Chicago and Illinois 135 

Colorado and Mountain States 123 

Indiana and Ohio 145 

New England 155 

North Carolina 129 

New York and New Jersey 152 

Northwest Pacific Coast 120 

Ontario, Canada 156 

Pennsylvania 148 

St. Louis and Missouri 130 

Southern California 117 

Texas and the South 126 

Washington, D. C 147 

Seedling Carnations 171, 179, 198 

Seeds, ripening 197 

Shipping and packing 57 

Snails on Carnations, 235; traps for 235 

Soil, the, 85; " making " a, 86; sterilizing old 87 

Split calyx trouble 236 

Spot disease 251 

Spray, poisoned with Paris green 234 

Spray, salt, for red spider 234 

Spraying 1 08 

Starr, Charles 25,150 

Stem-rot disease 237 

Stigmanose 232 

Sulphate of ammonia 105 

Sulphate of potash 105 

Sunshine, record of 252 

Supports 98 

Sweet Wilhams 183 

Temperatures 109 

Thirty years' survey, a 38 



262 



INDEX 



Page 

Thrips 232 

Thorpe, John 25 

Varieties of American Carnations, 184; of Malmaisons, 174; of Pinks. 183 

Varieties registered to the year 1900 26-33 

Ward, Chas. Willis 45 

Wholesaler and retailer, the 57 

Wood ashes 104 

" Yellows " in Carnations 246 

Yield of blooms per plant 54 





King Carnation House 

42 FEET WIDE 

If you want a good, strong house 
with all the light you can get — you 
want a King. You can't beat it. 

KING CONSTRUCTION CO. 

123 King's Road, NORTH TONA WANDA, N. Y. 




F. B. Abrams' House at Blue Point, L. I. 



The Best 
Are Grown In 

■"^AVE just returned from a trip among some of the 
^ P Carnation growers. Not the biggest ranges in 
^ the business, but every one oT them are big 
Carnation men. 

By big men, we mean the men who first and fore- 
most produce quality. The men who, because of their 
painstaking methods, personal attention and willing- 
ness to spend their money to leach their ideals, are 
continually contributing valuable helps to the entire 
growing business. 

Such men, for example, as Chas. Strout of Bidde- 
ford. Me., who walked away with so many prizes at 
the Buffalo Show; A. A. Pembroke; Cottage Gardens; 
F. B. Abrams and half a dozen others. 

Without exception every one of these men sweepingly 



SALES OFFICES: 

NEW YORK 
42nd St. BIdg. 

CHICAGO 
Rookery Bldg. 



ki§i 



BOSTON 
Tremont Bldg. 

ROCHESTER 
Granite Bldg. 

TORONTO 
Royal Bank Bldg. 



PHIL/ 

Franklii 

CLE 

Swei 




arnations 
Wide Houses 

stated that the wide house grew the best Carnations. 
By wide they seemed to mean anything from 50 feet up. 

That big volume of air in these big houses with its 
brightness and vigor, gives an ideal growing condition 
utterly impossible in narrow houses. 

That big houses make for Big Business, seems to be 
the inxpression all along the line. As you know, we 
were the first to build big iron frames. We have built 
more of them than any other three concerns. It stands 
to reason that we know best how they should best be 
built. 

We now have three factories. To save on your 
fre'ght, we will ship your house from the one nearest. 
When you aie ready to talk building, say when and 
where and we'll be there. 



lAmaQ. 



FACTORIES: 



Irvington, New York 
Des Plaines, Illinois 
St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada 



BURPEE 




'^eSalofQuaiii/ 



BURPEE'S SEEDS 

are supplied, every year, direct to more Ameri- 
can planters than are the seeds of any other 
growers. Burpee's Annual is a bright, new 
book of 182 pages, known as the Leading 
American Seed Catalog, and is a safe guide to 
success in the garden. It is mailed free. 

WRITE FOR IT TODAY 

W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO. 

Seed Growers, PHILADELPHIA 



CARNATION AND 
CHRYSANTHEMUM 

SPECIALISTS 



Dailledouze Brothers 

LENOX AND TROY AVENUES 

BROOKLYN BOROUGH NEW YORK, N. Y. 



Wortk Tke Cost 
At Transplanting 1 ime Alone 

XF used only at the time of lifting your field-grown Carna- 
tions, the Skinner System of Irrigation would be worth 
to you, the first year, all it cost. 
It will save you money by saving you labor. It will make 
you money by saving transplanting losses and growing better, 
earlier plants. 

Send for latest Bulletin and prices. 



CKINNER 

C/YSTEM 



OR IRRIGATION 

The Skinner Irrigation Co., 239 Water St., Troy, Ohio 




Philadelphia 
1608-1620 Ludlow St. 



New York 
117 W. 28th St. 



FOR several years we have 
specialized in having 
grown the best in cuttings 
and plants that ability and 
money can produce, all the 
standard varieties as well as 
the novelties. 

Our ;^?ant list for the asking. 

S. S. Pennock-Meehan 
Company 

The VC^JioJesaJe Florists 
of Philaaelf>nia 
Baltimore Washington 

Franklin & St. Paul Sts. 1216 H St. N. W. 



Best Books 



For the Florist 
and Gardener 



Bulbs and Tuberous-Rooted Plants ^ f ,^"'" ^^'' '!; 

t_ niarkably accurate and 

well-written work ttill remains the standard authority on Bulb (S^ "t Z.f\ 
Culture. Cloth, 12mo ;fl>1.0U 

Parnafiftn CiilHir** Pnmmf*rrial J- Harrison Dick. The latest, 

carnation ^^uuure, commercial ,^p^^^ ^^^^j ^^^^^^ complete work on 

the Carnation, including an epitome ot the practice of experts in all sections of 
the country. No grower can invest his money to better advantage than by 
purchasing a copy. Cloth bovmd, 260 pages, 12mo. (D* i SZf\ 
Copiously illustrated «fl/J.«^V/ 

/^Viw^e»nfVk«»miim TK<* A. Herrington. The most comprehensive and 
V^nrysanmcmum, I nc authoritative work on the cultivation ot 
the Chrysanthemum yet published. It is a practical book in COr* 
every way ^ v/C^« 

Color Standards and Color Nomenclature Rfdo^way"^' An 

authoritative standardization of colors and color names. Adopted by naturalists 
and others throughout the world. Illustrated with 53 plates containing 1115 
named colors, arranged according to a system which provides for the easy desig- 
nation of intermediates, thereby practically increasing the number of color 
samples to more than 4000. From our own experience with various color guides 
we claim these colors are standardized to a degree of accuracy not hitherto 
attained. We recommend Ridgway's for florists, nurserymen, seedsmen 
and others interested as the best color guide obtainable. Post- iS^Q "t f\ 
paid ^I^O.IU 

Design Books — Two New Ones Offered 

FLORAL DESIGNS DE LUXE.— Fifth Edition. Shows the finest assortment 
of make-up designs for the guidance of the retail florist ever brought together 
in book form, over 375 in number, Four pages in two-color and four pages in 
four-color effect have just been added to this great book, making it the most 
attractive presentation for order getting ever issued. Bound in cloth boards; 
128 pages in black and white effect, 8 pages in superb color effect, and 32 
blank pages for pasting up additional designs. Size of page tfJO ^C\ 
9x 12 in. All superbly printed. Delivery prepaid ^^•%j\J 

HANDY DESIGN BOOK FOR SOLICITORS.— Second Edition. It's a 
business getter and no mistake. Includes four pages in two-color and four 
pages in four-color effect. The black and white illustrations are simply superb, 
covering all subjects necessary in such a book. Thirty-six pages and cover in 
all. Size 9x12 in. Over $500 spent on the preparation of the color pages 
alone. Nothing approaching this book has ever been presented; additionally 
it is arranged so that customer will believe it your own production. Your 
name and address printed on front cover on orders of twelve copies or over. 
Price, delivery paid: 12 copies, S4.50; 25 copies, $8.75; 50 copies, $16.50; 100 
copies, $30.00. Sample copy, 50c. 



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438 to 448 West 37th Street, New York 



Bj. D 1 P'or the Florist 

est DOOkS and Gardener 

Diseases of Cultivated Plants and Trees §^9'^^ Massee 

; 1 his work IS the 

outcome of long continued personal investigation of the morphological and bio- 
logical peculiarities of many types of the organisms that cause or are associated 
with cases of disease in plants, together with an intimate knowledge of the labors 
of a host of investigators widely scattered throughout the world, and of ready 
access to the literature in which these results aie embodied. Consists of some 
600 pages, well illustrated. In the back of the book are incorporated two valu- 
able indexes — one of parasites, sprays, etc., and the other an alphabetical ar- 
rangement of plants with diseases infecting said plants listed un- iljJ'^ A_f\ 
der each one %fl)^»'TV/ 

Economic Entomolosv ^^^^ ?• ^"^^^i"' ^\^\. ^^IT *!"? ^''^'^''^ ^^^^ 

; 2l£. basic knowledge which enables him to recog- 
nize the nature of the insect he finds causing injury, and makes it possible to 
decide what sort of remedies should be applied. The book is divided into three 
parts. Part 1, covering eight chapters, deals very fully with the structare and 
classification of insects; Part 2 is devoted to the insect world, which infor- 
mation is set forth in nine chapters; while Part 3 comprehensively covers in- 
secticides, preventives and machinery. Well illustrated, 475 <II?^ #^ ^ 
pages, bound in cloth tfl)^«0^ 

Farm and Garden Rule-Book ^- h. Baiiey. The most valuable 

; compilation of general informa- 
tion on hundreds of subjects in connection with the entire ait of ^O O ^ 
gardening. The best general reference book in the market %J|)^»^^ 

Fruits and Vegetables Under Glass ™^^" t,";^"F size 

2 , 7% X lOyi in.; 256 

pages and cover; 65 splendid half-tone illustrations; handsomely bound in 
cloth. A complete textbook on the subject, and the only practical one in 
the field. Uptodate in every particular. Sample pages on <jl!C Of^ 
application «]J)%J«vf\/ 

Fungous Diseases of Plants benjamin Minge Duggar From 

2 cov^er to cover the contents of this 

book should hold the unabated attention of all who are interested in the check of 
plant diseases. Nurserymen, seedsmen, market gardeners and florists, as well as 
fruit growers and landscape gardeners, will find within these pages diagnoses of 
troubles which have heretofore been recognized as insurmountable. Every known 
fungus is classified and named, and numerous illustrations render considerable 
assistance to the unorthodox student in fixing identification. Florists and 
nurserymen will be particularly interested in the principles and ^^ '^ C 
methods of soil sterilization. Postpaid W-^ ^O 

Goldfish, The, And Its Culture Hugo Muiertt $2.00 

Heather, The: in Lore, Lyric and Lay TeiiT"tie' fto^rtf 

Scotland's Bonnie Mountain Flower, in prose and poetry. Frontispiece of purple 
and white heather, blended together. A book that will appeal to the floiist, the 
gardener, the folklorist, and to lovers of Scotland and all things <jj» 1 fifi 
Scottish. Sample pages on application *fl)X«\/vf 



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Best Books 



For the Florist 
and Gardener 



Gardeners and Florists' Annual This new annual publication, is- 

sued I or the hrst time in Janu- 
ary, 1915, made an instantaneous hit with gardeners and florists alike. It is unique. 
Besides a thorough digest of the events of the year in horticultural and trade 
societies, it contains a business section devoted to banking, insurance, etc.; 
special articles on subjects of leading interest; cultural calendars for the florist, 
the nurseryman and the gardener; a section devoted to valuable rules, notes and 
recipes; a biographical section covering men prominent during the year, and a 
great mass of useful miscellaneous information. Handy pocket size, COr* 
5x7 in., stiff paper covers, 280 pages. Postpaid Ov/C/* 

Horticulture, Standard Cyclopedia of ^ V ^""'a^' ^""-^ 

' Z. £_ merely an ordinary revi- 
sion or corrected edition of the old Cyclopedia, but a new work from start to finish. 
The fullest, newest and most authoritative of all works of its kind. Six large 
quarto volumes; more than 3600 pages; 24 full page exquisite color plates; 96 
beautiful full page sepia half-tones; more than 4000 text engravings. 500 col- 
laborators. Approximately 4000 genera, 15,000 species and 40,000 plant names. 
Six volumes complete, $36.00, payable per volume as published, with carriage 
paid to any point in the United States. Write for additional terms and 16-page 
prospectus. 

Landscape Gardening, Practical R^bt b cridiand (in pre- 

!_ HZ parahon.) Containing practi- 
cal and detailed information on subjects pertaining to the general landscape 
development of residential properties. 

Lilies ^' ^' A'^^^J^^- ^^ authoritative and instructive manual for growers of 

Lilie.s, treating upon their cultuie indoors and in the (j^ | "t f\ 

gardfMi, and giving a classification of varieties and their peculiarities tj) X • X vf 

Market Gardening, Success In S'„ ^^ «--- '^Srao'? 

practically all the information which may be required by market gardeners and 
those who have already had some experience in the line. It is comprehensive in 
every respect, even to dwelling on the implements, ordinary and special, required 
by the market gardener. Selection of Seeds, Construction and Operation of Hot 
Beds, and many other important preliminaries are all taken care of, followed by 
chapters with cultural directions for raising the various kinds of vegetables. 
Contains some 271 pages, fairly well illustrated and bound in <DJ 1 O r^ 
cloth. Postpaid V? 1«^V/ 

Mushrooms, Success With f,; «^S';^„'?if .^e tS'iF'S Vho 

want to raise this appetizing esculent. 10c. postpaid. For seedsmen and others 
. dealing in Mushroom Spawn who can sell such a pamphlet over the counter, we 
quote, with buyer's imprint on front cover, $6.00 for first hundred and $5.00 
for each succeeding hundred, in one order, f. o. b. New York. 

MmieA|>Y' Book THe L. H. Balley. A complete handbook of propagation 
^ ' of plants treating on seedage, separation and divi- 



sion, layerage, cuttage, graftage, including grafting, budding, inarching, etc. It 
tells plainly and briefly what everyone who sows a seed, makes a <flJ I ^C\ 
cutting or sets a graft, wants to know. 365 pages, illustrated. ... «fl/ A •»? V/ 



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Best Books 



For the Florist 
and Gardener 



Of^Viafrliriw Pfrkr1ii/«f iva Fred C. Sears. With 157 illustrations and 
\^rcnaraing, rroaUCtlVe 316 p^ges. Volume 6 x 8K in.; handsome 

and durable cloth binding. Every owner of an orchard, whether a small family one 
or the largest commercial orchard, needs this work and will find it valuable. The 
author has devoted years to fruit growing on a large scale, and in this book has 
carefully sifted out and discarded orchard methods which will not work and in- 
cluded only those of known and tried value. It is practical, complete, uptodate 
and authoritative, covering every phase — from the buying of land, selection 
of fruit, to grading, packing, marketing and advertising of fruits, <n» "l C A 
Prospectus on application %fl)X»Jv/ 

Orchids '^^^' O'Brien. Piesent-day gardening series, with 8 colored plates. 

A useful, popular guide to orchids at the present day. The /^ C/-* 

cultural hints are based on experience in growing orchids in England. 0*Ji_-» 

P<»rfcriv Manual TV»<» C. S. Harrison. Third edition. Enlarged, im- 

reony manual, i ne ^^.^^^^^ ^^^^ up-to-date. Divided into ten 



chapters, embracing propagation, raising from seeds, di-seases, preparing 

the grou) 

varieties. 



the ground, planting, forcing, shipping, etc., with complete list ojf '^ C/-» 



PVilrk-v A IV/lamial On XVi«a C. S. Harrison. Second Edition. Written 
rniOX, A lYianuai ^n I ne .^^ ^^_ Harrison's interesting style and 



covering all there is to know about the cultivation of Phloxes. The closing 

pages of ' 

varieties. 



pages of the book are devoted to a list of tall , medium and dwarf O C /^ 



Plant" f^iilfiir** George W. Oliver, Propagator for the Bureau of Plant In- 
A KMii. Vxtiiiuic j^igtry, Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Third 
revised edition. Size 5 x 73^ in.; 312 pages; heavily illustrated. A working 
handbook of everyday practice for the florist and gardener, and those who 
intend to grow plants and flowers in the greenhouse or garden as a ^"t ^C\ 
means of obtaining a livelihood. Sample pages on application ... «fl) J. •%!5 V/ 

Plant Prona?ation Creo. W. Oliver, (in preparation.) With the florist 
10.111. a ii^pq.^q.i.njii ^^^ ^j^^ gardener the very foundation of his work 

consists in knowing just how to propagate the plants he expects to grow. A little 
reliaVjle information in this direction will often save much valuable time that 
would otherwise be lost in experimenting, and result in making his work more 
remunerative. This little book is written with this end in view, and it is thought 
that the florist just starting in business will find here all the information he needs 
to enable him to increase the thing he wishes to grow without the necessity of 
consulting nore voluminous or expensive works. 

Pflininff Book The ^' ^' ^^^^^y- Explains the principles of each 
o J operation in every detail. Specific advice is given 



on the pruning of the various kinds of fruit and ornamental trees, shrubs and 
hedges. Considerable space is devoted 
of grape vines. 537 pages, illustrated . 



hedges. Considerable space is devoted to the pruning and training <jlj | ^C\ 



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Best Books 



For the Florist 
and Gardener 



Rose Culture, Commercial Ebcr Holmes. size 7^x5 in.; les 

I pages; heavily illustrated. This book 

embraces the growing of Roses under glass and outdoors, and is written, primarily, 
for the guidance of the commercial grower with an establishment limited in scope 
and for those wishing to grow Roses with their general stock, dl* i Sl(\ 
Sample pages on application *U/J.«i?V/ 

Rose Growing (Outdoors) F or the Amateur, The 

Pra<»firal RrirkL* of Geo. C. Thomas, Jr. With 96 plates in color, charts 
r I ct^n^gi AJUUiv Kii j^j^^ half-tones. The author has achieved much suc- 
cess as a Rose cultivator, and for many years has tested most of the novelties. 
Results speak for themselves. "The Production of Roses," (i. e., the propaga- 
tion), discusses each operation or method in succession, but not exhaustively. 
In the chapter on "Raising New Varieties from Seeds," the author shows he is 
well aquainted with the work that has been done in recent years both here and in 
Europe. "The Best Varieties and Their Characteristics" is a list of what the 
author believes to be the best all-around outdoor Roses for America. "A Main 
List of Roses," set out in tabular form, extends from page 50 to 66. Other 
chapters on Climbing Roses, Location and Planting, Pruning — one (SS^A C\C\ 
of the best — and General Cultivation. Prospectus on application. «I|)^«v/ v/ 

^-lAT^^f P«»a& for Prrfcfif J. Harrison Dick. This is a practical guide 
jwcet rcAB mr rruiii ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ uptodate methods of growing 

Sweet Peas under glass in Winter and in the open air for a Summer crop. 
Divided into eleven chapters. Well printed on woodcut paper and freely 
illustrated, strongly bound; 12mo. ; 147 pages, with complete index. <IIJ "I ^ O 
Sample pages on application *fl)X»*JV/ 

Trees of The Northern United States '!!;f^S^'^^^'^'?' 

Apgar. This handbook is to the trees of its locality what Gray's well-known 
Manual of Botany is to the other plants. It furnishes a complete key to the old 
and cultivated trees found east of the Rocky Mountains and north <IIJ l ^ ^ 
of the southern boundary of Virginia and Missouri. 500 illustrations ^ X •^^J 

Violet Culture Commerrinl Prof. B. T. Galloway. Third edition; 
VlOiei; V^UUUre, V^ommerciai ^^on^piptely revised and reset. Size 

4}^i X 6% in.; 248 pages, most instructively illustrated. A treatise on the 
growing and marketing of Violets for profit, giving every detail necessary to 
success. The only comprehensive American work on the subject. <n* t C (^ 
Sample pages on application «fl)J.»%_/\J 

Water Gardenina The Book of P^*^^ Bisset, Size 7Mxio in.; 

YY aier Oaraenrng, l ne DOOK or 200 pages, illustrated. Con- 
tains all the practical information necessary to the selection, grouping and suc- 
cessful cultivation of aquatic and other plants required in the ^'^ ^f\ 
making of a water garden and its surroundings %^ ^^•jyj 



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iii! 



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